City's early penalty appeal occurred 22 seconds before Liverpool's opener
Monday 11 November 2019 11:34, UK
Liverpool took the lead against Man City - but should their first goal have been chalked off for a penalty at the other end?
Fabinho fired the hosts ahead with a superb strike from distance in the top-of-the-table clash at Anfield, but moments before Trent Alexander-Arnold appeared to handle a cross at the other end.
Michael Oliver waved play on but had VAR decided a foul had been committed, Fabinho's goal would have been ruled out and a penalty awarded to Manchester City.
It was decided by the PGMOL official Paul Tierney at Stockley Park that Alexander-Arnold's arms had not been in an un-natural position when the ball struck him.
But was it the right decision?
Special guest and former City captain Vincent Kompany: "One way or another you should stop the action. Alexander-Arnold's arm is in an unnatural position. It's a penalty."
Pitch-side reporter Geoff Shreeves: "Pep Guardiola is livid. His entire backroom staff surrounded us at half-time to ask 'why wasn't it given?'. To say they are unimpressed is an understatement."
Sky Sports pundit Jose Mourinho: "It was an amazing goal by Fabinho, can you imagine having to overturn it against Liverpool? But I don't think that's the point - the point is consistency. Next week a similar situation will be a penalty."
Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane: "It's a huge moment, but it's not Liverpool's problem. If the referee or VAR have looked at it. I think the frustrating part for all of us who have been involved in football a long time, we'll probably see an incident like that next week, and it'll be given as a penalty. But obviously it's not a problem for Liverpool to worry about. The goal came from that, but they still had to travel up the pitch. It's frustrating that we're talking about that decision rather than a brilliant game of football."
Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports afterwards: "Obviously, there's VAR and it has hit my arm. I think it might have hit Bernardo Silva's first.
"But it's one of them where you have to carry on playing.
"We went down the other end and punished them. They were complaining about the goal, but it was a wonderful strike from Fabinho."
