The Premier League has confirmed why Liverpool was awarded a second spot kick against Southampton in the game between the sides at Anfield. Mohamed Salah beat Aaron Ramsdale twice from 12 yards.
“VAR checked the referee’s call of no penalty for a possible handball by Sugawara and deemed that he made a deliberate movement towards the ball with his arm, therefore recommended an on-field review,” the official Premier League Match Center posted on X/Twitter. “The referee then awarded a penalty to Liverpool.”
Darwin Nunez had already pulled his team level at that point in the game and then won a penalty for a minor foul. Liverpool, having been 1-0 down at half-time, convincingly turned the result around.
Southampton boss Ivan Juric was left fuming at the decision to award the first penalty of the game when Nunez was adjudged to have been brought down. There was minimal contact but the referee was not instructed to check the monitor.
“They reacted really well,” he told the BBC. “We had really good moments of the first half. I think the [first] penalty was not a penalty and that changed the match. I am satisfied with how we played today.
“This cannot be a penalty ever. I’m sorry it happened because it was 1-1 and it changed the match a little bit. We have lots of young players who want to grow up and improve. We can lose but we have to fight like we fight today.”
Liverpool needed a little help having toiled in the first period. Arne Slot made a triple substitution at the half-time break and it paid off handsomely.
“It was a bit of frustration,” Mohamed Salah told Premier League Productions when he was asked what Slot said at the interval. “His head was going for us. We were sloppy and slow in the first half. I don’t think we played good today. If you want to win the Champions League or Premier League you have to win these games like that.”
Liverpool.com says: While the first penalty was a little harsh, once it was given there was no clear and obvious error. The referee saw contact and pointed to the spot, which was justifiable. As for the second, there was no real doubt about it. It looked like a handball offense at the first time of viewing in real time and the replays showed that was the case.
