Liverpool should have had penalty for shirt-pull on Alexander Isak, panel rules

Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty for the shirt-tug on Alexander Isak in their Premier League match against Arsenal earlier this month, an expert panel has said.

The Sweden striker’s shirt was pulled by Gunners defender Jurrien Timber in the match at Anfield on November 1, which Arsenal won 1-0.

Referee Andy Madley let the incident go on field, and VAR Stuart Attwell did not recommend a review.

The decision was criticised at the time by pundits like Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright and now the five-person Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has said a penalty should have been awarded.

Madley’s decision was deemed incorrect by four of the panellists, who felt Timber’s challenge met the threshold for a holding offence, while three felt Attwell should have intervened because it was a clear and obvious error.

Isak did not make any protest about Timber’s shirt pull to the officials, in a match which was settled by Kai Havertz’s goal for the Gunners.

His Reds boss Andoni Iraola was asked after the match whether Isak should have gone down after the challenge, and replied: “It’s a shame you ask me this question, but honestly, yes, we have to tell them, go down, because they’re not going to call it otherwise.

“And then referees complain why they go down. Because if you don’t go down, you don’t call it. Then it’s like, no, you are all the time going down.

“But I think Alex is honest. He tries to go for the ball, everyone can see live straight away there is a clear, clear pull.”

Iraola added in a BBC interview: “The answer is you have to dive. If you don’t dive they are not going to call it.”

Former Liverpool player Carragher was critical of the officials, and told Sky Sports: “One of the best goalscorers in the league is pulled back seven yards out and it stops him heading the ball – why does he need to make a meal of it? VAR, do your job.”

Former Arsenal striker Wright agreed, adding: “He shouldn’t have to make more of it. We can see it… Unless I’m pulled back, I’m going to head it as much as I can. When he pulled him, it was just about enough as he would need to go down.

“VAR is wrong in this instance. If they gave that penalty, I wouldn’t sit here and say ‘I can’t believe they gave that’.”

There is a strong mandate for Premier League officials and VAR to recognise and penalise holding actions that are sustained and have a clear material impact on play, as well as an increased emphasis on non-footballing holding actions that have no place on the football pitch.

In this instance, two of the five panellists considered that the subjectivity in assessing impact meant this did not meet the high threshold for VAR intervention, but the majority felt Attwell should have recommended a review.

The KMI panel is comprised of three former players and coaches, one Premier League representative and one from Pro Ref. So far this season 196 KMIs have been examined, with the correct on-field decision taken in 86 per cent of cases. That rises to 97 per cent following VAR intervention.

The panel did support Madley’s decision not to take action against Noni Madueke after a coming together with Alexis Mac Allister which ended with the Argentinian falling to the floor clutching his face.

The panel felt the contact was “negligible” and that Mac Allister’s reaction was “clearly exaggerated”.