Gary Neville says the decision to overturn Rayan Cherki’s late midfield goal in Manchester City’s win over Liverpool erases a moment from the season and provides ammunition for those who believe VAR is ruining football.

Cherki’s low shot, chased down by Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, sparked City’s wild celebrations at Anfield, but the goal was ruled out after a VAR check when Erling Haaland fouled Dominik Szoboszlai as he sprinted towards an empty net.

Haaland’s foul meant referee Craig Pawson had to take into account Szoboszlai’s earlier pull on Haaland and send the Liverpool man off for rejecting a clear scoring opportunity.

Neville labels officials a ‘bummer’ in joint comments sky sports and elaborated on his frustrations during the game Gary Neville Podcast Then.

Neville said: “We know the referee and the VAR official came to the right conclusion, but if you think VAR ruins football, VAR takes the fun and entertainment out of the game, then this is one of the best pieces of evidence you could ever want.”

“It was a great football moment and you get absolute chaos at the end of the game, with players fouling each other and the ball going into the net, and a team that had come from 1-0 down and almost never won at Anfield ended up basically winning 3-1.

“The fans celebrated with the players on the pitch after a minor invasion by several Manchester City fans.

“It’s a classic moment of the season in English football. If City start closing the gap on Arsenal you would think it would be a moment of celebration.

“I think 10 City players on the bench came over to celebrate with Haaland. It felt like a golden moment in the game was taken away.”

“Liverpool fans didn’t particularly want it at the time, they knew the game was over and now Szoboszlai got a red card. He’s off and won’t play in the next game.

“Nobody wins. If I’m cold about it, the referee and the VAR official have made the right decision.

“However, there was something completely wrong with this matter. They did not need to intervene.

“I’m not saying you can subjectively interfere with the emotion of a football match.

“You have to follow the rules and the law, otherwise we would go crazy and if that was zero-zero, we would say, ‘Sure, make sure you make the right decision.’ But it didn’t feel right in that moment.”

Haaland: Just score a goal

Haaland expressed regret for Szoboszlai, who will be suspended for Liverpool’s game against Sunderland in midweek, and said officials should have allowed Goal table.

Haaland mistakenly believed his former Red Bull Salzburg team-mate would be banned for three games instead of one, but questioned the need for VAR to intervene.

“Of course the referee has to follow the rules but it will give him three games. In the end I feel sorry for him because he got three games (sic),” the striker told sky sports.

“Just goals, no red cards. It’s that simple.

“That’s the rule, that’s the way it is.

“If Cherki just passed the ball to me so I could score… but he didn’t want to, so that’s what happened!”