The referee of Brentford and Liverpool’s clash had to be replaced at half-time due to an injury.
Simon Hooper was unable to carry on officiating the match, which was poised at 2-1 going into the second half.
And there was a delay at the Gtech Community Stadium as his replacement, fourth official Tim Robinson, warmed up.
Hooper had endured a controversy in the first half as Milos Kerkez grabbed a goal back for Liverpool in the fifth minute of added time – despite only three being added on.
Brentford fans jeered at half-time, clearly fuming with how they had been pegged back beyond the timespan given for the half.
The hosts led at the break, though, thanks to goals from Dango Ouattara and Kevin Schade.
Simon Hooper, who was refereeing Brentford vs Liverpool, was forced to withdraw at half-time
The second half was delayed as his replacement, fourth official Tim Robinson, warmed up
Brentford were fuming that Milos Kerkez had been allowed to score five minutes into first-half added time – when only three minutes had officially been added on
Hooper took up the role of fourth official for the remainder of the match.
But he will not have been popular with the Brentford technical area after the extension of the first half.
Referees are within their right to add on the additional time they see fit on the end of added time if they feel it is necessary to compensate for other delays.
But the Bees were fuming with the 43-year-old, with captian Nathan Collins going over to him at the break to protest.
There were a few sarcastic cheers when it became clear that Robinson would be replacing him.
Hooper will be back, though. He made his Premier League refereeing debut in 2015 and was promoted to the Select Group to take charge of top-flight games consistently in 2018.
His replacement, Robinson, had a slightly more forgiving time of it in west London.
A foul by Virgil van Dijk, which was originally given as a free-kick, was reviewed by VAR and overturned to be a penalty as it was on the line on the edge of the area.
Igor Thiago duly converted the penalty for his seventh goal of the season and to give Keith Andrews’ side a 3-1 lead.
Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool fans hope with a superb half-volley in the 88th minute.
And that hope persisted until the 102nd minute as Robinson was forced to add on extra minutes at the end of the second half – when initially seven were added on – due to a series of delays.
It was absolutely manic, with Liverpool coming close several times, but the Bees clung on for their fourth win of the season to climb to 10th in the table.
