Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher were both perplexed on behalf of Liverpool after a penalty was not awarded against Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard for handball.
Martin Odegaard did not receive a penalty for handball against Liverpool.
Officials initially denied the Reds a way back into Saturday evening’s top-of-the-table duel between Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta’s sides, which will determine who leads the way on Christmas Day.
Only four minutes have passed. Anfield was astonished when Gabriel Magalhaes headed in Odegaard’s free-kick in front of the Kop.
Then, midway through the first half, the supplier almost proved his team’s undoing by appearing to handle the ball in the penalty area. Mohamed Salah’s flick-on from close range struck the Norwegian with his hand low above the turf.
On-field referee Chris Kavanagh failed to notice it, allowing the visitors to counterattack. While that was going on, the incident was referred to VAR David Coote, who after reviewing it decided not to pull play back and award a spot kick to the Reds.
The judgment had former Manchester United defender Neville in Liverpool’s corner, dubbing Odegaard “lucky” on Sky Sports commentary.
After originally suspecting the Arsenal captain was in trouble, he watched the replays and concluded, “I think he may just slip there.” His right leg is losing way, causing his left arm to fall. That, I believe, is what saves him.
“I think he’s lucky but it might be that his foot gives way which means he puts his arm down to try and rebalance and that saves him.”
Carragher later studied the VAR’s call and agreed that Odegaard got away with it.
“I think that’s a penalty, he’s very fortunate there (Martin) Odegaard,” he went on to say. “There could be something in the slip, but I believe that is a penalty.” We witnessed something similar last night against Aston Villa, when we thought they were unlucky not to get one following a slip.”
At halftime, Sky Sports confirmed PGMOL’s official reasons for why Liverpool did not receive the penalty. They pointed out that it was “not a clear and obvious error as Odegaard’s arm is moving towards the body and not the ball as he goes down.”
The shock had been lessened by then, as Salah leveled for the hosts after 29 minutes with a magnificent solo goal, setting up a pivotal second half.