Liverpool's 3-2 win against ten-man Newcastle United should be investigated, according to former Premier League referee Keith Hackett.
The Reds left it late, but 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha came off the bench to score a 90+10th-minute winner to break the hosts' hearts. Eddie Howe's men largely dominated proceedings despite going a man down after Anthony Gordon's 45+3rd-minute sending-off.
Arne Slot's men had been two-nil ahead courtesy of Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike's strikes before Bruno Guimaraes' header, and William Osulu had levelled. The consensus is that Gordon deserved to walk, but that wasn't the controversy that prompted Hackett to request an investigation
Keith Hackett Wants Investigation Into Liverpool's Win vs Newcastle
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The game was an exciting one when the ball was in play, but that was a rarity, given that the ball was only in play for 40.8 per cent of the 117 minutes of game time. That is the lowest percentage in a Premier League match since February 2010, per Opta.
Hackett was shocked by the statistic and highlighted in an interview with Football Insider how fans deserved to see more action: "This is frankly an unacceptable stat – it fails to deliver value for money to the paying fans. I would recommend that the Premier League launch an investigation to determine where time was lost, once they have the facts they can then produce an action plan."
Referees have been told to clamp down on time wasting this season, and Hackett questioned whether delays were a result of a game plan: "They should explore and determine if the stoppages were tactical – given the strength of the opposition, did one of the teams take measures to slow things down?"
He added: "Delaying the return of the ball into play at throw-ins, corner kicks, free kicks etc – a review can easily determine time lost at various restarts. Did the substitution process take longer? Was there a large number of injury stoppages? How did the referee interventions slow things down?"
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Simon Hooper was in charge at St James' Park, and he continuously waved play on during a heated battle that saw many risky challenges made: "Hooper is an official who likes to keep his interventions to a minimum and create a good game flow. I would suggest that he is not to blame, but clearly can greatly influence the amount of game-time by ensuring the appropriate amount of added time is applied."
Hackett concluded: "The game has a problem that cannot be overlooked – the Premier League must investigate."
There was plenty of drama heading into the game amid the Alexander Isak transfer saga, with the Swedish striker pushing to leave Newcastle and join Liverpool. Howe's men became emotionally invested and flew into tackles, such as the one from Gordon on Virgil van Dijk that led to his red card.