Ex-PGMOL chief, Keith Hackett, has delivered a clear verdict on whether Liverpool should have been given a penalty when Cody Gakpo went down inside the box in their Premier League defeat to Brentford.
Liverpool travelled to the Gtech Community Stadium looking to end their run of consecutive defeats in England's top tier. However, they were beaten in west London as they fell to their fourth loss in a row.
Brentford raced out of the traps and took the lead after five minutes when Dango Ouattara found the back of the net. Brentford doubled their lead through Kevin Schade, only for Milos Kerkez to halve the defecit on the stroke of half-time.
The Bees restored their advantage when Igor Thiago converted a penalty on the hour-mark. Liverpool threatened a comeback when Mo Salah brilliantly found the net with one minute of normal time to go, but it was too little, too late for the Reds as they were beaten 3-2.
Ex-PGMOL Chief Gives Verdict on Controversial No Penalty Decision
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Liverpool fans were incensed when they weren't given a penalty in the first half. With the Reds trailing 2-0, Cody Gakpo went down inside the box following a challenge from Nathan Collins.
Referee Simon Hooper waved away Liverpool's protests, though. The decision was explained on X, with the Premier League Match Centre writing: "The referee’s call of no penalty to Liverpool was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that there was no foul by Collins on Gakpo."
Liverpool fans' anger was amplified in the second half when Brentford were given a penalty of their own after Virgil van Dijk felled Ouattara.
Ex-PGMOL Chief Keith Hackett has now given his verdict on Simon Hooper's decision not to give Liverpool a spot-kick. He told Football Insider:
“Referee Simon Hooper was ideally positioned to detect if there was any contact to award a penalty kick.
“Frankly there is no clear evidence that there was actual contact and therefore without that evidence rightly VAR did not intervene.
“These decisions are so much more credible when the referee is in close proximity to play to judge accurately what has taken place. Without that clear evidence of contact, you would not award a penalty kick.”
Liverpool will be looking to stop the rot with several huge games over the next few weeks. They play Crystal Palace in their Carabao Cup tie in midweek before welcoming Aston Villa to Anfield for their Premier League clash on Saturday November 1.