'Frankly pathetic' - Ex-referee slams controversial decision during Crystal Palace vs Liverpool

Crystal Palace were hard done by against Liverpool on Saturday according to a former referee. The Eagles lost 1-0 against the high-flying Reds at Selhurst Park, pushing them mightily close with Eddie Nketiah coming close on a number of occasions.

But Diogo Jota’s early goal went on to decide the game, with Oliver Glasner’s men unable to break down a stubborn Reds back-line, and that’s including goalkeeper Alisson Becker. There was a controversial incident during the game, though, with Marc Guehi seemingly being fouled by Virgil van Dijk, and according to former referee Keith Hackett, Palace should have been awarded a penalty.

“There was a clear and obvious penalty that should have been awarded to Crystal Palace but, somehow, the officials failed to give it,” Hackett said in his column for The Telegraph. “As Marc Guehi attempts to get to the ball at the back post of the Liverpool box, Virgil van Dijk blatantly pulls him back to stop any chance of him doing so. Indeed, the Liverpool defender used both hands to commit the foul as if trying to draw attention to the fact he was doing something illegal.

“Of course, referees will miss things and, therefore, Simon Hooper is not entirely to blame despite being at fault for making the initial mistake. But for the VAR to not intervene was frankly pathetic. The whole point of VAR is to correct mistakes, not ignore them for sake of convenience or some other unknown reason.

“To make things worse, the Premier League then confirmed the incident had been reviewed by VAR and put out a statement, arguing “that the challenge was not sustained holding and had no impact on the play”.

Glasner’s complaints

Palace boss Glasner spoke about the penalty claim after the game. He said: “We should have got a clear penalty. Marc Guehi is held by two hands.

“Why didn’t VAR give it? They thought it wasn’t a penalty. This situation isn’t a discussion for me. It’s not like handball or not. Guehi wants to go for the ball and is held by two hands, it influences his run, pulls him down. I don’t know why it wasn’t given – and I have read the explanation. It is frustrating but on this situation we don’t have an influence. I didn’t complain about our disallowed goal at Brentford, but today, yes.”