Liverpool was beaten for just the second time this season as Fulham scored three quick-fire goals in the first half to set up a 3-2 victory — and that was after the Cottagers saw a penalty claim rejected in the first half.
Just a few minutes after the game kicked off, Fulham midfielder Andreas Pereira hit the deck after Caoimhin Kelleher came out to challenge the Brazilian but made no contact with the ball. In the same passage of play, Fulham striker Rodrigo Muniz collided with Virgil van Dijk in the box.
Both incidents were checked by VAR but the on-field decision remained unchanged, with the Premier League sharing an explanation on social media.
It said: “The referee’s call of no penalty to Fulham following a challenge by Kelleher on Pereira was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed a coming together and not a reckless action. The VAR also checked and cleared the incident between van Dijk and Muniz.”
Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett was of the opinion that Fulham should have been awarded a penalty, as he felt that both incidents were fouls.
“I think the Fulham manager has every right to jump up and down in the technical area, when he sees two incidents – neither given, unbelievable!,” Hackett told Football Insider.
“Is there any wonder that the Fulham manager is jumping up and down? Liverpool’s Kelleher came out, with arms outstretched, nowhere near the ball, and in doing so, uses his body and brings down Pereira.
(Image: 2025 Liverpool FC)
“It’s a penalty kick. In the same phase of play, Virgil van Dijk turns his body on his opponent in an act of unfair impeding – an offense – on Muniz, and we’ve got a double scenario here.
“The VAR didn’t interfere with either, didn’t recommend referee Chris Kavanagh going to the monitor – he should have done. Where is [Matt] Donohue, the VAR, looking?
“Because there’s two offenses that both required a penalty kick decision; goalkeeper and Van Dijk, both guilty of offenses inside the penalty area. [It’s] beyond belief.”
Ultimately, the decision had no bearing on the final result, as Fulham ran riot in the first half on the way to inflicting a first away Premier League defeat of the season on Liverpool.
Alexis Mac Allister gave Liverpool the lead after 14 minutes, but goals from Ryan Sessegnon, Alex Iwobi, and Muniz in a 15-minute period put the host team in control.
Luis Diaz emerged as a second-half substitute to halve the deficit but Liverpool could not find an equalizer, with Harvey Elliott coming closest as he crashed an effort off the crossbar.
