**Former FIFA and Premier League referee Keith Hackett is stunned that Cody Gakpo wasn’t awarded a penalty in Liverpool’s 2-0 victory away to Ipswich Town.**
The Reds were triumphant at Portman Road in the Premier League last Friday evening, with Gakpo providing both assists for Alexander Isak’s two ruthlessly taken goals.
In the first half, the Dutchman could also easily have been given a penalty after being cynically fouled inside the penalty area, but no spot-kick was awarded.
Speaking to [_Football Insider_](https://www.footballinsider247.com/liverpool/its-incredible-ex-pgmol-chief-slams-darren-england-after-analysing-liverpool-footage), Hackett couldn’t believe the incident, criticising referee Darren England’s role in it, having previously been doing a good job:
_“When you look at it, it’s just incredible that the referee has missed it and then VAR has not come in. If we start to examine it, it’s possible that the referee, in a good position, has actually followed the flight of the ball moving away and actually not held his gaze, which he’s supposed to do._
_“There’s no getaway from here. This is a foul. The challenge is reckless. It has to be a penalty kick, and it has to be a yellow card. Darren England was having, up to that point, quite a good game, certainly by his standards._
_“But this is a major decision that potentially impacted on the result. Liverpool were denied a penalty kick, simple as that.”_
**A continued lack of VAR consistency in the Premier League**
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This was just the latest in a baffling string of incidents in the Premier League that have gone on for years, ever since VAR was introduced into the English game.
There continues to be no consistency whatsoever – the Gakpo foul would have been awarded in other matches – and this relates to every Premier League team, rather than Liverpool simply always being the ones on the wrong end of bad decisions.
The point of VAR was to eradicate errors, but they are still happening every week, playing a role in so many supporters wanting to scrap the technology completely, due to the time it takes out of matches, among other things.
Mistakes such as these have to stop – fortunately for Liverpool, it didn’t stop them from beating Ipswich, but in another game, it could easily prove costly.