Mark Clattenburg states why VAR allowed Eberechi Eze’s controversial penalty miss amid ‘unfair advantage’ claim

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Eberechi Eze will be a relieved man after his penalty miss in the Community Shield wasn’t punished as Crystal Palace defeated Liverpool.

Crystal Palace stunned the Premier League champions at Wembley Stadium as they came from behind twice to take the game to penalties.

The Eagles eventually won the shootout 3-2 with Mohammed Salah, Harvey Elliott and Alexis Mac Allister all missing their spot kick efforts.

Eze looked to have allowed Liverpool back into the shootout following his miss from 12 yards, which could have been quite controversial had his side lost.

Exclusive: Mark Clattenburg on Eberechi Eze penalty miss vs Liverpool

Mark Clattenburg has revealed to TBR Football that he was not a fan of Eberechi Eze’s stop-start penalty run-up, which led to Alisson Becker saving his spot kick.

The former Premier League referee claims that whilst the rules allow for such a run-up, the attacker is gaining an ‘unfair advantage’ over the goalkeeper.

But regardless, the Liverpool shot-stopper managed to guess the right way and save the penalty onto the post following the Palace winger’s stuttered run-up.

Speaking exclusively to TBR Football, Clattenburg says: “Eze’s run-up is allowed within the rules as he does not stop when addressing the ball at the point of contact with the ball.

“I personally do not like when players make a stop-start run up, especially when they get an unfair advantage when goalkeepers are trying to anticipate when the ball is struck to make the save and have at least a part of the foot touching the line.”

Eze, who’s linked with Arsenal, took a real risk waiting so long to place his penalty, and ultimately, his run-up cost him all momentum with his tame effort.

Arsenal fans questioned Eze’s performance against Liverpool and they are now wondering whether he’d be the right fit for Mikel Arteta’s team.

Exclusive: Mark Clattenburg on Alisson Becker’s vs Eberechi Eze

Clattenburg added that VAR was right to allow Alisson’s save of Eze’s penalty to stand, despite the suggestion that his feet were off his line.

The Video Assistant Referee did not see enough evidence to overrule the save, with Clattenburg adding that the margins were just too fine to overturn the outcome.

“On first glance, it looks like Alisson’s foot may be just off the line when Eze takes the penalty. The VAR checked the available video and must have decided that the back foot of Alisson is touching the goal line. It’s a fine margin and would have to support the VAR in such tight cases.”