Gary Lineker was surprised not to see Liverpool awarded a penalty in their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final. The Magpies claimed their first domestic trophy in 70 years at the expense of Arne Slot's Reds, who had crashed out of the UEFA Champions League midweek.
Dan Burn's almighty header (45') and Alexander Isak's excellent first-time finish (52') put Eddie Howe's men two-nil up. Federico Chiesa came off the bench and gave the Tyneside outfit a nervy last few minutes with a cool effort (90+4), but they made it over the line.
Liverpool had a penalty appeal turned down in the 40th minute when the ball bounced onto Kieran Trippier's hand while in his own box. VAR reviewed the incident but explained that 'his arm was deemed to be in an expected position with no clear or deliberate action towards the ball.'
Lineker Thought Liverpool Might Have Been Given Penalty
The England icon recalled 2019 UEFA Champions League final handball
Their decision not to award a spot-kick was put down to the handball not being 'clear and obvious', a stance Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher backed while doing punditry on Sky Sports. But some felt as harsh as it would have been, such 'accidental handballs' had been given in modern-day football.
Lineker admitted he was leaning towards a penalty being awarded when a VAR review took place, as 'ludicrous' as such handball decisions are. He said on The Rest is Football podcast:
"The thing was, his hand was away from his body. I think if they give penalties for that sort of thing, it's ludicrous, but they do. But they do. We saw in the Champions League final when Tottenham played Liverpool in that first minute and went up in the air. We have seen those entirely accidental handballs, but when I saw the replay, I thought, Oh, they might."
Liverpool Penalty Statistics All Competitions (24-25)
Player
Penalties
Penalties Scored
Penalties Missed
Liverpool were awarded a penalty in the 2019 UEFA Champions League final when Sadio Mane played the ball onto Tottenham Hotspur's Moussa Sissoko's arm. The stance over that decision was that his hand was in an 'unnatural position', and VAR similarly conducted a review that went the way of the Reds on that occasion.
Newcastle's victory was deserved as they were the better side at Wembley and forced Slot's side to play the game their way. Lineker's colleague Alan Shearer was on hand to watch his beloved Magpies finally get their hands on silverware, their first trophy since the old Fairs Cup in 1969.
All statistics courtesy ofTransfermarkt- correct as of 17/03/2025.
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