Cody Gakpo goes down in the box under challenge from Lewis Cook (Credit: BBC MOTD)
Cody Gakpo goes down in the box under challenge from Lewis Cook (Credit: BBC MOTD)
Match

Liverpool exclusive: Ex-FIFA ref hits out at controversial Bournemouth footage

Keith Hackett
Keith Hackett

Refereeing Consultant AUTHORITY Former FIFA Referee; Head of PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited). FOCUS Laws of the Game, VAR implementation, officiating performance, and PGMOL policy. THE AUDIT Keith utilises Statscore’s Officiating Telemetry, including Deep-Data Metrics like Incident Accuracy Rates, VAR Intervention Latency, and Official Positional Efficiency. He provides technical refereeing analysis to reveal the regulatory reality behind match-defining decisions.

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Keith Hackett believes that Liverpool were lucky to be awarded a penalty in the 2-0 win over Bournemouth.

Cody Gakpo went down under a challenge from Lewis Cook in the 30th minute of the clash at the Vitality Stadium (1 February) and referee Darren England pointed to the spot.

Mohamed Salah converted from the spot kick to give the Reds the lead before he doubled their advantage with a stunning curling effort in the 75th minute.

However, former PGMOL chief Hackett explained why the decision was controversial to Liverpool News.

“This is a poor decision for me. 

“I do believe that the attacker has clipped his own feet and gone to ground. Any contact by the defender was minimal and in my view accidental.

“The Referee was not in the best of positions and should have been asked by VAR to take another look.”

Liverpool will not care after massive win

Arne Slot’s side secured victory in a tough contest on the south coast against a Cherries side that had not been beaten since 23 November.

The result felt huge given the momentum that the hosts had going into the contest and the fact that Arsenal face a reinvigorated Manchester City side on 2 February.

Liverpool Mohamed Salah
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah scored a magnificent second goal. (Credit: Imago)

Andoni Iraola’s side had plenty of chances to equalise as Antoine Semenyo and Marcus Tavernier both hit the post before the Egyptian fired in a stunning second so the Anfield faithful will just be relieved that their team got the job done. 

The Reds hold a nine-point advantage at the top of the Premier League and face Tottenham in the Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg on 6 February, followed by a trip to Championship outfit Plymouth in the FA Cup on 9 February.

The Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on 12 February is the next league contest for the Anfield outfit as they look to continue their title charge.

In other Liverpool news, Virgil van Dijk was told to "stop it" after what he did against the Cherries on Saturday.

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Liverpool
Keith Hackett
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