VAR's explanation for not sending off Cresswell as Liverpool left furious

West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell was not sent off because the VAR Stuart Attwell felt his challenge on Jordan Henderson 'didn't have the required force or intensity'.

Liverpool 's long unbeaten record was ended by the Hammers, who ran out 3-2 winners in a pulsating encounter at the London Stadium.

But there was more than a shade of controversy surrounding the victory with Jurgen Klopp left furious at two major decisions.

Klopp felt West Ham 's first goal should have been disallowed for a foul on Alisson, whilst he also suggested that Cresswell should have been dismissed.

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The incident occurred moments after the opening goal of the game when Cresswell caught Henderson on the shin.

Referee Craig Pawson initially didn't give a foul on the field, before Attwell checked the tackle as a possible red card situation.

After watching the incident several times, Attwell decided that Cresswell should not be sent off, believing the force or intensity wasn't at the level to warrant a red.

Klopp was asked about the decision and told Sky Sports: "Aaron Cresswell's was a reckless challenge on Jordan Henderson, even when he touched the ball before so you have to control your body.

"Two situations which were influential but West Ham did not make the decisions and they won the game."

On the first goal, Klopp added: "What can Alisson do? That is why the goalie is protected. If a player goes up in the air with his arm, it is an important part of the body for the goalkeeper.

"People will say I am making excuses but I am calm. You need normal decisions from a referee and he did not do that.

"It's the typical excuse that VAR says it's not clear and obvious but then what do you need?"

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk also hinted that he felt the referee should have ruled out the goal, explaining: "I saw the whole time, Alisson was being man marked. With the rules no-one knows what is allowed. It could have been a foul."

West Ham striker Michail Antonio admitted after the win that their plan to crowd the Brazilian 'keeper was drawn up during set-piece sessions in the build-up.

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"Yeah the whole plan was to stick it on the goalkeeper and just challenge basically," he said. We saw that they've struggled with the ball coming in and all we have to do is keep the ball away from Virgil and it worked out for us today.

"They have a look at the weaknesses and strengths of what each team come up against and for different games we cover different strategies.

"So today was definitely push straight on the 'keeper and we go and challenge. I saw that no one marks me on the 'keeper so I'm there to block the 'keeper to make sure he can't come out and catch it. We saw what happened today, goals."