Rio Ferdinand was shocked by the decision to overturn a penalty awarded to Inter Milan's Lautaro Martínez during Wednesday's Champions League clash with AC Milan, while Steven Gerrard argued the striker 'killed himself' by overplaying the contact.
Martínez went down inside the AC Milan box following a tussle with Simon Kjaer after half an hour, which led to referee Jesus Gil Manzano immediately pointing to the spot and booking the defender.
However, after being asked by VAR to consult his monitor, the referee rescinded the penalty and Kjaer's yellow card.
There was definite contact from the AC Milan defender, but Martinez exaggerated it as he went to ground.
Ferdinand called the incident a 'stonewall' penalty on BT Sport after it was overturned.
Steve McManaman said he was 'amazed' by the decision, and a number of the Inter Milan players seemed to agree.
Gerrard took a more nuanced view, arguing it was 'technically a penalty' but that Martinez 'killed himself' by exaggerating the level of contact from Kjaer.
'You are allowed to have contact in the box,' said the former Liverpool midfielder. 'If you listen to what Peter [Walton] says it should have stood, but I think they stitch the referee up by sending him to the screen.
'I think he thinks the contact is not enough for that reaction.'
Ferdinand tweeted 'still think it's a penalty' after their half-time discussion, while Walton felt VAR should not have changed their decision as it was 'not clear and obvious.'
Inter were 2-0 up at the time, and would have gone out of sight with a third goal so early in the tie.
They scored both goals in the opening 11 minutes, with Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan finding the net.
The game finished 2-0, leaving Stefano Pioli's side with a mountain to climb in the rest of the tie, as they aim for a first UCL final appearance since 2007.
Real Madrid and Man City are the other two sides in the last four, and drew the first leg of their semi 1-1 at the Bernabeu on Tuesday night.
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