Keith Hackett hits out at PGMOL over Omar Marmoush penalty controversy vs Liverpool
Craig Pawson should have awarded a penalty in favour of Omar Marmoush during Man City’s stunning win against Liverpool.
That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that Ibrahima Konate deserved to be punished inside the area on Sunday, 8 February.
The Anfield faithful were just as furious later in the game when Marc Guehi brought down Mohamed Salah, earning him a yellow card, but Arne Slot was adamant that it deserved more in the 2-1 loss.
Of course, Dominik Szoboszlai was shown a red card as the Liverpool star dragged Erling Haaland back in a blatant denial of a goalscoring opportunity, and the game only continued to get more controversial.
Omar Marmoush dragged over in the Liverpool penalty area
Just 15 minutes into the game, and Pawson already had a decision to make, as Marmoush was bundled over inside the penalty area, with Konate the guilty party in the moment.
However, despite huge calls for a spot-kick, the referee refused to award the foul in City’s favour, and VAR did not intervene. Replays showed clear contact between the two, sparking a lot of anger online.
Szoboszlai scored the opener at Anfield, and had the Reds held on for all three points, it would have been a much bigger talking point, but Bernardo Silva and Haaland had other ideas.
Despite the result, many travelling fans are still furious about the decision that went against Marmoush, raising more concerns about the quality of refereeing in the Premier League this season.
Keith Hackett blames PGMOL over refereeing inconsistencies
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the incident, the former referee said: “The PGMOL have allowed holding to take place for a couple of seasons, with these types of incidents going unpunished.
“If they allow grappling at corner kicks, the players will take advantage of wrapping their arms around opponents, which they do.
“We’ve become conditioned that this isn’t foul, when in reality, the player has his arms wrapped around his opponent, stopping him from playing the ball.
“There’s justification for a penalty to be given, but the bar set by the PGMOL allows for this to happen.”