Tim Sherwood and Stephen Warnock disagree on huge refereeing talking point in Liverpool clash

Images via Under The Cosh and Sky Sports

Liverpool had a penalty overturned during their Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield, and the eventual decision divided opinion among some pundits.

Midway through the second half, with the Reds 2-0 down on aggregate but pushing hard for the opening goal of the night, Alexis Mac Allister was caught inside the box by Willian Pacho, and referee Maurizio Mariani pointed for a spot kick.

However, he was then summoned to the pitchside VAR monitor and ultimately reversed his initial decision, despite there being clear contact on the Argentine midfielder.

Pundits disagree on Liverpool penalty decision

Speaking on Sky Sports News, Tim Sherwood felt that Liverpool were hard done by over how that incident transpired as he said: “There was contact! Yes, it’s soft, but in my opinion it is a penalty.”

On BBC Radio 5 Live, former Reds defender Stephen Warnock saw it differently, saying: “I didn’t think it was a penalty. Alexis Mac Allister clumsily goes down; there is just a coming together of the two players.”

Liverpool denied a legitimate penalty when they were in the ascendancy

We’re not sure why Mariani didn’t just trust his initial judgement and stick with his original decision, as the contact on Mac Allister by Pacho was clear on replays. It doesn’t matter if the force was mild; the Liverpool midfielder was caught, and that was enough to warrant a penalty.

Unfortunately, that decision proved to be a huge turning point on the night as the Reds were denied a legitimate spot kick at a time when Anfield was at its loudest and they were pushing hard for the goal which would’ve set up a frantic final 20-25 minutes.

Alas, shortly after that reprieve for PSG, they scored against the run of play as Ousmane Dembele fired to the net, with the pin-drop silence among the home fans a telltale sign of how the tie was effectively put to bed in that moment.

We don’t know whether the eventual outcome would’ve been any different had Mariani stuck to his guns and given Liverpool the penalty, but had the spot kick stood and been scored, the lift it would’ve given to the home side could’ve seen this match take a rather different course.

Sadly, the VAR intervention punctured the Reds’ momentum and the European champions soon took full advantage. They might privately acknowledge that they were done a kind favour by the officials…