‘I think…’ – Dermot Gallagher stands by officials over disputed incident in Liverpool victory
Dermot Gallagher has given his verdict on a disputed refereeing decision from Liverpool’s win away to Leicester on Sunday.
The Reds moved to within three points of securing the Premier League title thanks to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s late winner, but they were frustrated for long spells by the Foxes (who had their relegation confirmed yesterday) and could even have been trailing before the vice-captain’s decisive contribution off the bench.
Earlier in the second half, Conor Coady had diverted a header into the visitors’ net, but the goal was swiftly disallowed by Stuart Attwell, who’d spotted a foul by Patson Daka on Alisson Becker just before the ex-LFC defender made contact with the ball.
What did Gallagher say about Leicester’s disallowed goal?
Gallagher made his customary Monday morning appearance on Sky Sports‘ Ref Watch to review a variety of refereeing decisions from the weekend’s Premier League action, including that momentary scare for Liverpool at the King Power Stadium.
The former top-flight whistler agreed with the decision to disallow the goal, explaining: “I think this is a foul. We’ve spoken in length about fouls on goalkeepers. Daka doesn’t hold his ground as holding his ground is standing still. Daka moves into the goalkeeper.”
Gallagher’s verdict is spot-on
We often see instances of cheap free kicks being awarded for nonexistent fouls on a goalkeeper from a set piece, but this one doesn’t fall into that category.
While replays show that Daka had eyes on the ball, he also made a motion towards Alisson and barged into the side of Liverpool’s number 1, as Gallagher rightly pointed out. It mightn’t have been the most forceful of contact, but the Leicester forward knew what he was doing.
The Foxes also had grievances as to whether, in the lead-up to Trent’s winning goal, Attwell should’ve stopped play with Luke Thomas on the ground with an apparent head injury.
In the referee’s defence, there were several players obscuring the defender from his vantage point, and such was the scramble which ensued that his attention could easily have been elsewhere. Also, it wasn’t the Reds’ fault that the 23-year-old had been clattered into by his own goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.
Gallagher didn’t find fault with either of those decisions, and rightly so. Liverpool had to grind it out once again, but an xG superiority of 2.57 to 0.27 (Sofascore) clearly shows that they were deserving winners.
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