Liverpool’s remarkable winning run in the Premier League was always going to end eventually.

Kopites would’ve chosen a different place for the streak to expire if they could have though. A 1-1 draw between Manchester United and the Reds ensured Manchester City remain the sole holders of the longest winning run in English top flight history.

The key moments of the game could probably be summed up in a simple sentence. One decent cross each, one tap-in each, one goal each. But that doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of a match which featured several controversial decisions.

With no Liverpool match to cover last week, this column looked into the impact VAR has had upon the Premier League this season . While there hadn’t been much significant intervention from Stockley Park in the Reds’ matches – Cesar Azpilicueta’s disallowed goal at Stamford Bridge aside – there certainly was in Sunday’s game. Truth be told, there wasn’t a talking point in the match which didn’t involve the input of David Coote, the video assistant referee.

Read all the reaction to Liverpool's draw at Old Trafford HERE

It’s hard to give an objective assessment of a referee’s performance when you support one of the teams he is overseeing, but the statistics paint a picture of a whistler more inclined to punish the away side in this match.

Manchester United only had 32.1% of the possession, their second lowest figure in a home league match since 2003/04 when records began, according to Opta. The only time it has been lower was in this fixture last season, with the home side content to let Jürgen Klopp’s side have the ball and challenge them to break them down in both matches.

Yet despite dominating ownership of the ball at Old Trafford to near-record levels, in the opinion of Martin Atkinson it was Liverpool who were far the dirtier side. He penalised the visitors for 14 fouls where the home side only committed six infringements. For context, the foul count last season was 15-17, which perhaps seems more in line with expectation.

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According to the referee, United didn’t commit any fouls between the 22nd and 72nd minutes. As unlikely as that sounds, not least as they made nine of their match total of 11 tackles in that period, it was also to prove very costly to Liverpool when the home side went ahead after 36 minutes.

It appeared Victor Lindelof fouled Divock Origi, but Atkinson thought otherwise. United swept forward, and Dan James crossed for Marcus Rashford to open the scoring. The England international has netted more often against other teams from the big six than versus the Premier League’s minnows, with 11 of his 31 league goals coming in big matches.

Whether it was a legitimate goal or more likely not, the Reds then faced an uphill task to continue their winning run. Since the start of 2016/17, there have only been four ‘big six’ matches where the away side went behind and came back to win.

Yet they continued to dominate the match, completing more passes in the final third between Rashford’s goal and full time than United did in total in that period.

The Reds then thought they’d equalised when Sadio Mané held off Lindelof after receiving Trent Alexander-Arnold’s great long pass, but it was ruled out for handball. As the VAR took the decision, it became the first Liverpool league goal to be disallowed after review.

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Klopp made his first change after an hour, bringing on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Origi, and switching to a 4-4-2 formation. As two of Liverpool’s three shots in the box across the opening 60 minutes of the match saw Mané tee up Firmino, the boss may have been hoping for more of the same by getting them a little closer together. While that didn’t happen, the substitutes were to have an impact upon the outcome of the match.

Oxlade-Chamberlain had two of the five shots Liverpool mustered while he was on the pitch, Naby Keita played the pass prior to the assist for the equaliser, and Adam Lallana couldn’t miss at the back post once Andy Robertson had sent in a fine cross. The VAR took a look once again thanks to a suspicion of offside, but the goal stood.

By setting up the equaliser, Robertson picked up his third assist in his last seven appearances. Add in his goal against Salzburg, and the Scot has a quartet of direct goal contributions within seven games for the first time in his Liverpool career.

And despite Lallana equalising with just five minutes of normal time remaining, there was still time for another VAR check for a possible penalty award to the Reds. It wasn’t to be, but after four significant video reviews across their first eight league games, Liverpool had seen four more in this match alone.

Klopp’s team weren’t at their best on Sunday, yet deserved their point and might’ve had more. The match officials in Manchester and west London went a long way to determining otherwise though.