As Arne Slot’s team loses more points in the race for the championship, Liverpool’s 3-2 loss to Fulham will make headlines on Monday morning. Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has now shared his thoughts on whether the Reds were fortunate to avoid giving up a spot kick.
Instead of building on Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Everton the previous day, the Merseysiders were soundly defeated by Marco Silva’s team in west London, even though they had taken the lead with a goal from Alexis Mac Allister just 14 minutes into their top division match.
They still lead the standings by 11 points over the Gunners, but if Chris Kavanagh, the man in the centre, had given the home team a chance from 12 yards out in the first half of their match in London, things would have gotten worse.
According to the previously mentioned Hackett, Liverpool was exceedingly lucky to escape uninjured following a moment of craziness in their six-yard box after captain Virgil van Dijk and custodian Caoimhin Kelleher, in his opinion, committed fouls.
Ibrahima Konate lost the ball to an oncoming Andreas Pereira after Curtis Jones played it to him. An under-fire Kelleher hurried off his line and swept the Brazilian off his feet, leaving him in a bundle on the ground, as seen in the video below.
Rodrigo Muniz ultimately got possession of the ball, but Van Dijk, who also seemed to elbow throughout the five-goal match, apparently made a very slight attempt to reclaim the ball and instead raced into the Fulham line-leader.
The former PGMOL chief stated that Fulham manager Silva had every right to be upset about the subpar refereeing at Craven Cottage following Liverpool’s defeat in their opening away game of the 2024β25 Premier League season.
Does the Fulham manager’s bouncing up and down in the technical area make sense? Kelleher of Liverpool came out with his arms out, far from the ball, and used his body to bring down Pereira of Fulham. The kick is a penalty kick.
“We have a double scenario here,” he told Football Insider, adding, “because Virgil van Dijk turns his body on his opponent in an act of unfair impeding on Muniz in the same phase of play. The VAR didn’t interfere with either, and it didn’t recommend referee Chris Kavanagh going to the monitor.” He ought to have done.
Hackett feels that both incidents should have resulted in a penalty for Fulham, saying that VAR’s failure to step in and advise Kavanagh to speak with the pitchside monitor was “beyond belief.”
“Where is the VAR, Donohue, searching? because a penalty kick decision was necessary for both of the crimes. Both Van Dijk and the goalie committed infractions inside the penalty area. [It’s] unbelievable!
In the future, the league leaders will host Graham Potter’s West Ham United at Anfield on Sunday, while Fulham, who are aiming for next season’s European qualification, will visit Bournemouth on the south coast.
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