Liverpool should have had another penalty – but do not blame the referee

Challenge by Jeremy Doku on Alexis Mac Allister was foul and Michael Oliver should have been sent to the video screen by VAR

The quality of this game lived up to its expectations with some outstanding playing skills on show and I was delighted to see a refereeing performance of the same calibre.
Michael Oliver gave a performance that underpinned why he is England’s No 1 football referee. He was well supported by his two colleagues on the line, Steve Meredith and Shaun Hudson, and I hope that many grassroots officials will have taken on board the anticipation, movement and positioning of Oliver to gain those good viewing positions and viewing angles that delivered one big penalty decision – when Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson brought down Darwin Nunez with a reckless challenge.
But sadly I cannot say the same about VAR Stuart Attwell, who missed a clear and obvious penalty in the final minute of time added on that would have handed Liverpool a chance to win the match.
The blame here does not lie on Oliver – far from it. He was well placed to turn down Liverpool’s appeals for a penalty kick when Mohamed Salah somewhat dramatically went to ground.
However, play continued and in the closing seconds of the game Oliver was unsighted when City’s Jeremy Doku swung a raised foot towards Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister as the pair challenged for the ball.
It was a raised foot above his waist which landed on his opponent. Despite making contact with the ball first, it was a careless challenge. Oliver, unsighted, had to rely on the VAR in that moment. Liverpool felt they had strong penalty claims and in retrospect Oliver will be disappointed that he was not sent to the screen to have a look. In my opinion, it was a foul and Attwell missed a clear and obvious error that needed to be looked at again. Whether it cost Liverpool a winning goal we will never know.
Oliver was also in a good position to correctly award a penalty kick for Liverpool earlier in the match when Ederson for his reckless challenge on Nunez.
There were some who called for the goalkeeper to be sent off for the challenge, which saw him substituted with injury shortly after, but once again I think Oliver made the correct call to caution him and keep the game at 11 versus 11.
The law states reckless is “when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent and must be cautioned.”
Oliver was correct to apply a yellow card to Ederson for his reckless challenge, but for it to have been a red card then the following criteria must apply in law: “Using excessive force is when a player exceeds the necessary use of force and/or endangers the safety of an opponent and must be sent off.”
Oliver was correct and demonstrated why he is our No 1 referee, remaining calm and reading the play exceptionally well that ensures his contact with the game and achieving those important viewing angles to See, Recognise, Think and Act.