(Video) Many fans may have missed subtle yet pivotal moment in lead-up to Rio Ngumoha goal | OneFootball

Rio Ngumoha is rightly being lauded this weekend after his magnificent performance in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Fulham on Saturday, which was capped by his first goal at Anfield.

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The 17-year-old opened the scoring in style in the 36th minute, teasing Timothy Castagne before curling an unstoppable shot beyond the read of Bernd Leno, a passage of play which had many journalists and reporters swooning.

Amid the justifiable praise which is being heaped upon the teenager, a subtle yet important moment in the lead-up to the goal may have gone largely unnoticed.

Taylor played a good advantage in lead-up to Ngumoha goal

Roughly 15 seconds before Ngumoha scored, Cody Gakpo was nudged to the ground by Sander Berge on the halfway line, right in front of Anthony Taylor, who noticed Florian Wirtz running onto the loose ball and duly played advantage.

From there, Liverpool’s number 7 surged forward into Fulham’s half of the pitch before laying the ball off to the eventual goalscorer to produce his moment of magic and treat himself to a significant career milestone by scoring at Anfield for the first time.

Image via Sky Sports

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A subtle yet pivotal decision from the referee

It was Ngumoha’s wizardry which ensured that the move would culminate in a goal, although the referee’s instant decision to signal advantage when Gakpo had been brought down on the halfway line is praiseworthy.

Had Taylor not read the play and blown his whistle for a free kick immediately, Fulham would’ve had time to organise themselves from the resulting set piece, and there almost certainly wouldn’t have been the same space for Wirtz and the goalscorer to exploit.

That’s all hypothetical, of course, but the official’s decision to wave play-on was a subtle yet potentially pivotal moment in the move which led to the deadlock being broken.

We’re quick to condemn referees for glaring errors, and the overall standard of officiating in the Premier League still leaves a lot to be desired, but Taylor made an excellent call in playing advantage shortly before Ngumoha found the net on Saturday evening.

Credit to the official in that instance, and indeed to the 17-year-old, who John Aldridge had wanted to see playing the full match rather than being substituted to a huge ovation in the 69th minute.

Check out the footage of Taylor awarding advantage below (at 1:04), via Sky Sports Premier League on YouTube: