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Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty in their Premier League clash against Arsenal after Alexander Isak was pulled back by Jurrien Timber, the league’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has ruled.
According to BBC Sport, the panel reached the decision following a review of the incident during the encounter at Anfield on November 1.
The incident occurred in the 21st minute when Isak attempted to connect with a cross from Bradley Barcola but was prevented from reaching the ball after Timber pulled his shirt.
Referee Andy Madley allowed play to continue, while Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Stuart Attwell reviewed the incident but did not recommend an on-field review.
However, the KMI Panel voted 4-1 that Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty. A separate 3-2 majority also agreed that VAR should have intervened and asked Madley to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
The panel’s majority concluded that the decision not to award a penalty was a clear and obvious error.
Two members, however, argued that the subjective nature of assessing the impact of the shirt pull justified VAR’s decision not to intervene.
The panel unanimously agreed that Timber’s challenge did not constitute a red-card offence for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Arsenal were leading 1-0 at the time through Kai Havertz, with Mikel Arteta’s side eventually securing all three points.
After the match, Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola criticised the decision, arguing that Timber’s shirt pull prevented Isak from reaching the cross.
He also suggested that players were increasingly being forced to go to ground to convince referees to award penalties.
The KMI Panel also identified a separate VAR error in the Championship match between Ipswich Town and Hull City on October 31.
The panel ruled that Ipswich should have been awarded a penalty after Nobel Mendy held back Dara O’Shea during a corner-kick situation.
