Liverpool boss slams officers and questions two selections towards Chelsea
Arne Slot is still not 100% happy with the officials decisions when Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 on Sunday.
A Mohamed Salah penalty and a simple finish for Curtis Jones was enough to cancel out Nicolas Jackson’s goal and send Liverpool back to the top of the Premier League table.
Jones had won the first penalty as Levi Colwill swiped through the Liverpudlian’s legs when attempting to clear the ball. It looked like Jones had won another penalty in the first half when Blues keeper Robert Sanchez clattered into the No.17 in the box.
It was initially given on field by referee John Brooks, but VAR would intervene after spotting the leg of Sanchez making contact with the ball and ask Brooks to review the play. It was then overturned.
Slot told Sky Sports: “It’s not so important any more because we won, but I think it could have been a crucial decision for the VAR to overturn the referee’s decision on the pitch, which I couldn’t understand.
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“I think if the referee looks at it for a minute, it already shows that the VAR shouldn’t have interfered. Even, in my opinion, if you look at it on the screen you still feel it’s a penalty.”
There was also an incident on field in which Slot believed could have been a red card. A very similar incident to William Saliba’s red card tackle against Bournemouth, Chelsea defender Tosin Adarabioyo brought down Diogo Jota when the striker was relatively clear on the counter attack. He got away with a yellow card.
“Then there was the possible decision of a red card, which I say yesterday was a red card in a similar situation,” continued Slot. “Big decisions because penalties or red cards influence the game a lot, but it’s also nice that these moments are inside the game because it also creates a lot of energy.
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“The fans really stood up today as well, they helped us a lot and that probably comes from these decisions as well, because they’re just as biased as I am. In the end a good win against a very strong Chelsea.”
Jones was at the heart of both penalty incidents and explained what he felt on both incidents.
“I never dive,” the midfielder exclaimed when asked about the first penalty. “I felt the contact [from Colwill], went down and it was a penalty.” In regards to the second penalty, he said: “I’ve not seen it. I know we collided but I’ve not seen it back so I can’t really say.”
