The Premier League have confirmed that Liverpool's game at Sunderland on Saturday will not be replayed despite the controversial nature of the game's only goal.
Darren Bent struck the winner for the Black Cats when his shot deflected off a beach ball. The involvement of an unrelated object should have meant that the goal was chalked off.
The goal stood, but the game will not be replayed despite there being a number of precedents.
"The beach ball was an inanimate object so the referee should have stopped the game as soon as he was aware it was on the field of play," a Premier League spokesman told The Mail on Sunday.
"However, the difficulty would be if he didn't see it until it was struck by the match ball."
Another spokesman added: "We won't be asking for them to play it again."
Reds manager Rafa Benitez treated the incident philosophically, stating: "These things happen. It's a very technical question but it has to be a goal.
"These things can happen in a lot of games. It's a bad situation for us that the ball was in the middle and was influential but again I will say we didn't play well. That's the main thing for me."
Darren Bent struck the winner for the Black Cats when his shot deflected off a beach ball. The involvement of an unrelated object should have meant that the goal was chalked off.
The goal stood, but the game will not be replayed despite there being a number of precedents.
"The beach ball was an inanimate object so the referee should have stopped the game as soon as he was aware it was on the field of play," a Premier League spokesman told The Mail on Sunday.
"However, the difficulty would be if he didn't see it until it was struck by the match ball."
Another spokesman added: "We won't be asking for them to play it again."
Reds manager Rafa Benitez treated the incident philosophically, stating: "These things happen. It's a very technical question but it has to be a goal.
"These things can happen in a lot of games. It's a bad situation for us that the ball was in the middle and was influential but again I will say we didn't play well. That's the main thing for me."
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