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Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty for a handball against Martin Odegaard during last month’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal, PGMOL chief Howard Webb has revealed.
The Reds and the Gunners played out a thrilling stalemate in a title showdown shortly before Christmas, with Mohamed Salah cancelling out an early goal from Gabriel Magalhaes.
Shortly after Arsenal had taken the lead, Liverpool were aggrieved they were denied a penalty when Odegaard’s arm brushed the ball while trying to keep his balance under pressure from Salah. The incident was reviewed by VAR but they stuck by the on-field decision.
On the latest edition of Mic’d Up on Sky Sports, former referee Webb – now chief refereeing officer for PGMOL – admitted this was the wrong decision and Liverpool should have indeed had a penalty.
“The on-field referee recognised Odegaard had slipped and saw his arm go towards the ground. We’ve talked in the past about supporting arms if someone falls or breaks their fall with their arm, it’s a pretty well-established concept,” Webb said.
“In this situation, though, there’s an important difference to a normal player that’s fallen. This is not just Odegaard accidentally falling onto the ball, his arm does go out but then he pulls his arm back in towards his body which is when the ball makes contact with his arm.
“The VAR looked at that aspect. He thought it was a case of Odegaard trying to make himself smaller by bringing his arm back to his body. That is the element that’s important here. Whether it’s instinctive or deliberate, he gets a huge advantage by bringing the arm back towards the ball.
“The feedback we got back afterwards was very clear, the game expects a penalty in this situation and I would agree. As such, this one did not reach the right outcome on that basis.”
The result ensured that Arsenal stayed on top of the Premier League table heading into Christmas, but they would soon surrender first place to Liverpool following consecutive defeats to West Ham United and Fulham. Mikel Arteta’s side also lost 2-0 to Jurgen Klopp’s men in their FA Cup third-round tie at the Emirates Stadium.
