Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Samuel Meade

Alisson praises VAR after he has two red cards overturned amid "injustice" claims

Alisson hailed the intervention of VAR after he twice saw red cards rescinded whilst playing for Brazil against Ecuador.

The Liverpool goalkeeper received his marching orders in each half, but managed to remain on the pitch after consultation with VAR.

Referee Wilmar Roldan had originally shown the shot stopper a straight red following a challenge on former West Ham United forward Enner Valencia.

Alisson ran out to the edge of his box as he attempted to clear the ball, but made contact with the head of the forward on his follow through.

Initially being dismissed, VAR then intervened and downgraded his red to yellow.

The official was not shy in handing out cards through the night as both teams finished with ten men.

Have Your Say! Should Alisson have been sent-off? Tell us here.

Brazilian Emerson Royal and Ecuador's Alexander Dominguez were sent off

Brazil could've then been down to nine in Quito after Alisson was handed a second yellow for a mistimed punch that saw a penalty awarded in the second-half.

However VAR then reversed the decision.

The Liverpool star welcomed the intervention, insisted he acted "properly" and that his side could've been "unfairly" hampered.

"I think this was the first time this has happened in the history of football," he said.

"I think that I acted properly in the moves and I think my team mates helped me a lot, they were incisive in their complaints to the referee. This shows once again the importance of using VAR in football.

"I am happy with the VAR, if it wasn’t for the VAR we’d have been punished unfairly."

Despite that Ecuador boss Gustavo Alfaro was left questioning the calls after the match, which he feels may have denied his side a landmark win.

"We're shocked by the development of the match, by all the strange things, by everything that happened," he said.

"I don't want any favours, all I want is justice.

"We feel that we had the chance to achieve a historic victory taken away from us."

Brazil have already secured their spot at the 2022 World Cup, but named a starting XI packed with Premier League stars.

A host of top flight players have jetted off to Dubai for some warm weather training but Thiago Silva and Emerson Royal started the game, with Fred, Philippe Coutinho and Raphinha also named in the line-up.

Manchester trio Alex Telles, Ederson and Gabriel Jesus all started on the bench.

Real Madrid's Casemiro put Brazil ahead early on before Ecuador equalised with 15 minutes left courtesy of Felix Torres.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.