Bryan Mbeumo scored inside 90 seconds as Man United took control of Liverpool, with referee Michael Oliver seemingly ignoring Alexis Mac Allister’s head injury.
Mac Allister lay flat on the grass as Mbeumo raced between Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate to fire home to make it 1-0 at Anfield.
The midfielder was cleared by Van Dijk and Mbeumo as the Dutchman initially won an aerial duel, clearly holding the back of his head.
He required treatment, which was allowed immediately after the goal, and continued to play with an extensive bandage over the wound.
They’re trying to tell us the referee didn’t see him? pic.twitter.com/BqBzaCLv1f
— Sabah (@Sabah07) October 19, 2025
It was then claimed via the Sky Sports broadcast that the referee had not seen the injury – despite visual evidence to the contrary.
Under FA rules, referees are required to stop play if a player sustains a head injury, but Oliver allowed play to continue.
The wording of the rules on head injuries explains that any live call on a stoppage would be subjective: “Play is stopped if: in their opiniona player is seriously injured or suffers a head injury.”
But it was obvious that Mac Allister had suffered a head injury and the decision not to stop playing rightly frustrated Arne Slot.
Liverpool’s head coach protested to the referees after Mbeumo’s opening goal, pointing at his head, but it was a pointless protest.
VAR was also unable to intervene, meaning United could simply take an early lead at Anfield on the basis of a subjective decision – and admittedly poor defending from Van Dijk, Konate and Mamardashvili.
The hosts were later denied a penalty despite Cody Gakpo’s cross hitting Amad Diallo on the arm in the penalty area.
Live blog
Our coverage is automatically updated below:
#Bizarre #reason #Mbeumos #goal #stood #Mac #Allisters #injury