Why did Brentford-Liverpool have a different referee after half-time?

Liverpool’s Premier League match at Brentford saw a change of referee at half-time after Simon Hooper picked up an injury.

The referee was replaced by the fourth official Tim Robinson for the second half at the Brentford Community Stadium.

Hooper suffered a hamstring injury during the first half of the game, TNT Sport reported.

Robinson then awarded Brentford a penalty after Virgil van Dijk was judged to have fouled Dango Ouattara on the line, with VAR Chris Kavanagh instructing an overturn.

Brentford led Liverpool 2-1 at the break after an incident-packed first half in west London.

Kevin Schade doubled Brentford’s lead on the counter-attack, around a minute after referee Hooper had waved away appeals for a penalty when Cody Gakpo went down under the challenge of Nathan Collins in the box.

The VAR Kavanagh agreed with Hooper’s on-field decision.

Liverpool’s Milos Kerkez then pulled one back in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time. A minimum of three minutes had been shown.

The restart following half-time was delayed so Robinson could warm up during the interval.

The Liverpool and Brentford players then emerged onto the pitch before the officials, with Hooper replacing Robinson on the touchline.

Premier League Liverpool Brentford Simon Hooper Tim Robinson Injury Update VAR