Liverpool were wrongly denied a penalty during their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at Anfield, with a Premier League review panel confirming that the incident should have resulted in a spot kick.
The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel ruled that referee Andy Madley made a significant error by not awarding a penalty when Jurrien Timber pulled Alexander Isak in the first half.
The panel voted 4-1 in favour of awarding a penalty. A 3-2 majority also concluded that VAR official Stuart Attwell should have recommended an on-field review.
The incident happened when Isak attempted to connect with a Bradley Barcola cross. But Timber stopped that from happening by pulling his shirt.
Madley allowed play to continue, while Attwell reviewed the situation and decided that no further action was necessary.
Kai Havertz had given Arsenal the lead at the time, and it turned out to be the winning goal.
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola was unhappy with the decision after the match and suggested players might have to go to ground more often to convince officials they were fouled.
He went further to say that Isak not falling may have influenced the decision.
“There is a clear grab of the shirt,” he said. “If he goes to the floor, they call the penalty, 100%.
“Next time the managers should tell Alex to go to the floor, otherwise they won’t call it. The answer is you have to dive. If you don’t dive, they won’t call it.”
Refereeing standards in the Premier League have already been questioned after several controversial decisions in recent weeks, and the latest ruling has only stoked the fire.
The KMI panel also identified another major mistake involving Ipswich Town’s 2-2 draw with Hull City.
During that match, Hull defender Nobel Mendy held back Ipswich’s Dara O’Shea while defending a corner. However, referee Peter Bankes and VAR official Neil Davies did not award a penalty.
The panel subsequently ruled that Ipswich should have received a spot kick, providing further evidence of costly officiating errors affecting Premier League matches.