Ex-refs chief disagrees with pundits over Liverpool penalty, rips into ‘stupid action’
Liverpool experienced both sides of video assistant referee (VAR) action during Tuesday’s Champions League victory over Inter Milan.
Dominik Szoboszlai scored a late penalty as Liverpool beat Inter 1-0 at the San Siro to get back to winning ways.
Alessandro Bastoni‘s slight pull on Florian Wirtz‘s shirt had initially been ignored by the referee, before VAR intervened and recommended an on-field review.
The penalty decision was criticised by many pundits and observers for being soft, partly due to Wirtz’s exaggerated fall, but ex-PGMOL chief Keith Hackett saw it differently.
Ibrahima Konate’s first-half header against Inter was ruled out by VAR, after the ball appeared to strike Hugo Ekitike‘s arm in the build-up.
Arne Slot remains under pressure at Liverpool, but will hope to build on the momentum gained by a big win away to the Italian giants.
Keith Hackett criticises Alessandro Bastoni after penalty decision
When Wirtz went down inside the box six minutes from time, it looked to be a fairly innocuous incident, which referee Felix Zwayer paid no mind to.
On closer inspection, however, Bastoni had taken a handful of the midfielder’s shirt, preventing him from attempting to control the ball.
While the German’s fall was theatrical, VAR took a dim view of the incident and after Zwayer had seen it back, so did he, awarding a penalty.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett said: “Holding is an offence and the defender is clearly holding the player’s shirt.
“The replay shows the shirt coming away from the player’s body. Stupid action by the defender which allowed the VAR to review and request the referee to go to the screen.
“There is no question that the exaggeration by the Liverpool player is the catalyst for the doubt about the decision. Law 12 is clear that holding is an offence and that’s what the defender did.
“He held the shirt of the opponent and the decision to award a penalty kick was the correct decision.”
Inter Milan incensed by penalty decision
It is hard to argue with the referee’s decision to overturn his original verdict after seeing a closer angle of the incident.
Bastoni’s grip on Wirtz’s shirt is not particularly brief, and it has a clear impact on the Liverpool man’s ability to get to the ball.
But Inter star Henrik Mkhitaryan was not happy with the decision, and said: “I don’t know how they came up with a penalty that never existed but this is football.
“We are not happy. If you give a penalty like this, then every contact in the box is a penalty.” Every contact in the box, however, is not a handful of the opponent’s shirt.