Premier League offer VAR explanation after Erling Haaland misses penalty

The Premier League have confirmed that Jeremy Doku was indeed fouled, leading to a contentious penalty being awarded to Manchester City in their match against Liverpool. City's star player, Doku, was abruptly brought down by Liverpool's goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. Although the penalty wasn't immediately given, referee Chris Kavanagh reversed his decision after reviewing the incident.

A statement from the Premier League following the incident read: "After review, the referee overturned the original decision of no penalty to Manchester City. Referee announcement: 'After review, the goalkeeper commits a foul challenge on the attacker, the final decision is penalty.'". BBC pundit Danny Murphy, however, remained sceptical about the decision even after the review. He stated: "There's not enough contact from the keeper for me."

Despite the controversy, Haaland's penalty attempt was thwarted by Mamardashvili. Questions were raised about whether the Georgian had stayed on his line, but the save appeared to be legal.

Haaland had been performing exceptionally well for Manchester City this season. The 25 year old Norwegian had netted 18 goals in just 14 appearances across all competitions so far.

Mamardashvili, on the other hand, was under pressure due to a shaky start at Anfield. However, former striker Dion Dublin lauded the ex-Valencia man for his impressive save.

Commenting on BBC Radio 5 Live, he praised: "That is a really good save! The keeper absolutely launches himself to the left and made it look very easy.

"It is a good penalty that is probably going in to the side netting but he has read it. It is probably on his water bottle!".

Ultimately, Haaland made certain his name appeared on the scoresheet with less than half an hour gone in the match. He nodded home a superb delivery from Matheus Nunes and marked the moment by booting the corner flag.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk then saw a goal harshly ruled out for an alleged offside.

Liverpool will return to action following the international break when they host Nottingham Forest at Anfield. Meanwhile, City are scheduled to make the journey to Newcastle in a fortnight's time.