Trent Alexander-Arnold thought he had bagged an iconic moment for himself against Manchester United at Old Trafford. But a VAR check thwarted him after he had already brought out a celebration synonymous in these parts with Steven Gerrard .
The technology gives, and the technology takes away. A look at the watch saw the referee point to the center circle in the first place, confirming United's desperate attempts to block the Alexander-Arnold effort had been unsuccessful.
But the Stockley Park busybodies then got to work, confirming that Mohamed Salah had been marginally ahead of Luis Diaz when the square ball was played in the build-up. The Egyptian got the merest of touches to flick it back to Alexander-Arnold, who proceeded to force it over the line with sheer power, albeit ultimately to no avail.
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And unfortunately, Alexander-Arnold had not held back on his celebration. Nor should he have done: the Liverpool vice-captain and Academy graduate had just found the net at Old Trafford, after all.
But one of the many drawbacks of VAR is that it can leave you with a bit of egg on your face when a goal is overturned. In hindsight, Alexander-Arnold will be wishing he saved the Gerrard celebration for another day.
Back in 2009, Gerrard produced his immortal celebration at Old Trafford, running to give the camera a kiss on the way to a famous 4-1 victory. You can see what came over Alexander-Arnold; even the change strips were somewhat similar, with Liverpool sporting a grey kit with red trim on that day.
Of course, Gerrard had no VAR to worry about when he set off towards the cameraman. And his go-ahead penalty, after Fernando Torres had restored parity, would have been in no danger of being chalked off anyway.
"It just happened, off the cuff," Gerrard told BBC Radio 5 Live years later. "Obviously the game is always covered by the TV. I just remember sliding on my knees and getting carried away a bit.
"It's become a little bit of a wind up for the Mancunians because they've obviously given me so much stick over the years, it's just to wind them up a bit."
It was Alexander-Arnold getting wound up by the fans after Manchester United got its VAR reprieve. But Liverpool was 2-0 up by half-time, the perfect salve for any bruised pride for the number 66.
Liverpool.com says: It's a shame the goal was chalked off. It would have been another instantly iconic moment. But Liverpool didn't panic, and it didn't take long to carve Manchester United open again.
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