by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was left devastated by the failure to award his side an injury-time penalty as his final Premier League meeting with Pep Guardiola delivered another scintillating and controversial epic.
Jeremy Doku’s 98th-minute penalty on Alex MacAllister was disallowed by referee Michael Oliver and VAR Stuart Atwell deemed it fair, ensuring the title leaders shared the points in a 1-1 draw.
But the controversial decision prompted Klopp’s injury time to suggest that only ‘non-footballers’ would think it wasn’t a penalty.
“I think everyone in this room thinks if he whistles a penalty, it’s not a scandal,” Klopp said.
“He hits it on the chest, yes, it touches the ball before. Does that make any difference at any position on the field if your foot is that high?
“You can kick the ball before, after that the foot is here and you go. It’s not a red card of course but I talk about it so often. Why would the man in the VAR studio think that is not clear and obvious? What do you have to have for lunch if you think that’s not clear and obvious?”
Klopp believes that if the foul had been anywhere else on the pitch, a foul would have been awarded.
“This situation in every position on the pitch is 100 percent foul and it’s a yellow card,” he said.
“He hit the ball but he can only hit the ball because his foot was right there. If the ball isn’t there, it kills him. It is punishment for every football person on the planet. If you don’t think it’s a person, maybe you’re not a football person.
“But really I’m not angry. It’s just the story. It is alright. I am very happy with the way we played today. I really don’t care. I’m already over the top.”
Klopp calls Mike Dean
Sky TV referee consultant Mike Dean initially suggested on commentary that Oliver should be asked to review the incident, but then reversed himself and agreed with the VAR call not to do so. Port Telegraph columnist Keith Hackett felt the incident was “clear and obvious” punishment.
“You employ Mike Dean, he works for Sky? Congratulations, that’s a great appointment by the way – he’ll get something,” said Klopp.
Despite the late woes, the Liverpool manager said the game was one of the best in terms of quality he has ever been involved in, suggesting his side’s performance has convinced him they can go the distance in the title race.
“I would have loved to use one of the huge chances we created,” Klopp said.
“Yes, we’re lucky that Doku hit the post, but we played a great game of football. For us, apart from the result, the most important knowledge is that we are right there. We go the distance. We’ll see what we get for it, but the boys fought so hard to have everything there. Arsenal are firing on all cylinders at the moment.
“They still played an incredible game last night. The City is a City. So for us it’s probably a bit like how we got through all that, that we’re still there. It’s crazy with all these games we’ve had and the squad situation we have.
“Today I saw our best 53 minutes against Manchester City. The way we played was exceptional, and it’s also important that we learned that about ourselves as well. That we can do that.
“The result is only one thing. And if we win today what do we want, four points in front of City? That is not an area where you should fall asleep. And maybe two points ahead of Arsenal. The way they play, they won’t stop. For us it is important after all in the different ways we got, not always great performances, but fights of highest intensity to get the result.
“That’s the knowledge we need, that we can create something like this today. Our injury situation is still dire. There are a lot of players who are not available, it’s crazy.”
Liverpool should have had another penalty – but don’t blame the referee
The quality of this game rose as expected with some excellent playing skills on display and I was delighted to see a referee of the same caliber.
Michael Oliver gave a performance that proved why he is the No. 1 football referee. 1 England. He was supported by his two colleagues on the line, Stuart Burt and Dan Cook, and I hope that many community officials will have adopted Oliver’s anticipation, movement and positioning to achieve those good viewing positions and viewing angles. the big penalty decision – when Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson brought down Darwin Nunez with a reckless challenge.
But sadly I can’t say the same about Stuart Attwell’s VAR, who missed a clear penalty in the last minute of added time that would have given Liverpool the chance to win the game.
Oliver is not to blame here – far from it. He was in a good position to turn down Liverpool’s penalty kick appeals when Mohamed Salah went down dramatically.
Play continued, however, and in the dying seconds of the game there was no sight of Oliver when City’s Jeremy Doku turned a raised leg towards Liverpool midfielder Alexis McAllister as the two tackled the ball.
It was a leg raised above his waist that landed on his opponent. Despite touching the ball first, it was a careless challenge. Oliver, sightless, had to resort to VAR in that moment. Liverpool felt they had strong penalty claims and in hindsight Oliver will be disappointed he wasn’t sent to the screen to watch it. In my opinion, it was a lie and Attwell missed a clear and glaring error that needed to be looked at again. Whatever the winning goal cost Liverpool, we will never know.
Oliver was also able to correctly award Liverpool a penalty earlier in the game when he penalized Ederson for his reckless challenge on Nunez.
There were some who called for the goalkeeper to be sent off for the challenge, which led to him being an injury substitute shortly afterwards, but again I think Oliver made the right call to warn him and keeping the game at 11 on 11.
The law states that it is reckless “when a player acts without regard to the danger or consequences to an opponent and must be warned.”
Oliver was right to show Ederson a yellow card for his reckless challenge, but because it was a red card the following criteria must apply in law: “Excessive force is used when a player exceeds the required use of force and/or endangers the safety of an opponent and must be ejected.”
Oliver was right and showed why he is our No. 1 referee.
