Pen? Even officials aren’t sure of call
PEP Guardiola clearly thought it should have been a penalty, and it seems some former Premier League referees agree with the City manager.
The Blues were denied a spot kick at Anfield when the ball struck the arm of Trent Alexander-Arnold during Liverpool’s 3-1 win.
Just seconds later, Jurgen Klopp’s men opened the scoring through Fabinho.
The decision not to award City a penalty has caused plenty of debate, with some former top-flight referees having their say on the incident.
Former official Dermot Gallagher said: ”I think no (to a penalty) and the referee sells it to me. I think there is an angle where the referee makes the decision and it cuts out VAR altogether.
“Stop talking about the VAR as he solely makes the decision. It comes too fast. Michael Oliver sees the speed of ball comes and it’s hit AlexanderArnold on the arm. I think he has the best view of everybody.
“Striking an arm isn’t a penalty and Michael Oliver has the speed of the game. He knows the speed that came at and he is the one who went no.
“At that point, it was an on-field decision and VAR would never go above that. He thought the ball came too quickly and rebounded off Van Dijk and then off Silva. Once Oliver had made that decision which I think was right, the VAR would never get involved. If you had 100 football fans in here, none of them support either team, you will have a split vote. There would not be a majority. I think this becomes an on-field decision as Michael Oliver has the best view.”
Meanwhile, Mark Clattenburg said: ”It is the arm of Manchester City forward Bernardo Silva that deflects the ball onto Alexander-Arnold and that is why, for me, play should not be brought back. If Silva’s arm does not divert the ball, then yes, I believe a penalty should have been awarded as Alexander-Arnold’s arm is in an unnatural position and he is using it to make himself bigger.
“That is why I do not understand the Premier League explanation that it was not a deliberate handball.”
And Keith Hackett added: ”It is the sort of clear and obvious error that VAR was introduced to deal with, and City should have had a spot kick.
“I felt Alexander-Arnold’s arm was away from his body, and his intervention prevented the ball from reaching a City player.”