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Crystal Palace vs Liverpool: 'Naive' Jota penalty splits opinion of Klopp and Vieira

Liverpool sealed a 3-1 win against Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon, with a late penalty won by Diogo Jota.

Another day of Premier League football, another controversial VAR decision.

This time it came late into the action between Liverpool and Crystal Palace. The visitors raced to a 2-0 lead in the first half through Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but Odsonne Edouard clawed one back after the break to set up a tense finale.

Palace pushed on in the second half, leaving themselves exposed for the counter-attack. Diogo Jota latched onto a Trent Alexander-Arnold pass in the final minutes of the game and then bundled over in the box following contact from Vicente Guiata.

A spot-kick was eventually given by VAR, which was cooly converted by Fabinho to seal Liverpool's fourth win this month.

With the ball already rolling out of play by the time contact was made, the resulting decision has split opinion, including that of Jurgen Klopp and Patrick Vieira, who shared differing views.

Klopp was quick to dismiss any talk of the decision, and questioned why it was still being discussed post-match.
"I didn't see it but Jota thought it was a penalty, I could see that on the pitch.
"VAR thought it was a penalty and that is why the referee went to the screen so I am not sure what we are talking about now? Four eyes watched it."

In contrast, Vieira labelled it a 'poor' decision by a 'naive referee'.

"I think we give ourselves the best chance to get something from the game but obviously that decision by the referee took our hope away, that poor decision from the referee took our hope away," Vieira said.
"The reason is having those meetings with the referee and explaining to coaches that contact is part of the game, so that if there is a situation like that and there is not an obvious contact, there will not be a penalty.
"This one here and when you look at the situation with Jota, who I believe was really quite smart, but at the same the referee was naive or the VAR I should say was naive.
"There is no way that Jota could get the ball back and score or that Vince tried to stop. There is no way Vince and Jota cannot have contact because of the situation they were in."
The debate raged on through social media, with Gary Lineker and Henry Winter both taking to Twitter to voice their opinions.
Liverpool's win closed the gap at the top of the table to just 12 points, and with two games in hand, the Reds will hope to pile the pressure on Manchester City before their blockbuster match-up in April.
As for Palace, the Eagles now sit 13th in the table, and face Hartlepool in the FA Cup before travelling to Norwich on February 9.

READ MORE: Manchester United news: Ralf Rangnick urges Rashford to find 'continuity' after bagging late winner

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