Ex-referee defends decision that left Liverpool furious at Brentford | OneFootball

Liverpool fans were left questioning another key refereeing decision during our 3-2 defeat to Brentford but a former referee has insisted the right call was made.

Keith Hackett, ex-PGMOL chief and FIFA official, believes Simon Hooper was correct not to award us a penalty in the first half when Cody Gakpo went down under pressure from Nathan Collins.

The incident came moments before Brentford’s second goal, with replays showing minimal contact between the Dutch forward and the Bees captain.

Keith Hackett explains why Liverpool didn’t get the penalty

Image via TNT Sports

Speaking to Football Insider, Hackett said Hooper’s position on the field meant he had the perfect view to judge the situation.

“Referee Simon Hooper was ideally positioned to detect if there was any contact to award a penalty kick,” Hackett explained.

“Frankly, there is no clear evidence that there was actual contact and therefore, without that evidence, rightly VAR did not intervene.”

The ex-referee praised the officials for following the correct process, adding: “These decisions are so much more credible when the referee is in close proximity to play to judge accurately what has taken place.”

It’s a verdict that’s unlikely to satisfy us after what felt like another major call going against Liverpool.

Steve McManaman shared this opinion and also thought the right decision was made, though the angles provided were far from conclusive.

However, the Premier League’s official X account later confirmed: “The referee’s call of no penalty to Liverpool was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that there was no foul by Collins on Gakpo.”

Liverpool’s struggles continue amid frustration

(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

That decision proved pivotal, as just seconds later Brentford doubled their advantage.

Despite Milos Kerkez scoring his first goal for the club before half-time, and Mo Salah netting late on, we couldn’t avoid a fourth straight league defeat.

Arne Slot has already admitted that teams have “found a strategy” to expose us defensively but moments like these haven’t helped either.

With Dominik Szoboszlai again showing his quality and growing influence, and Salah ending his drought, there are at least positives to build on despite the disappointment.

It’s moments like this that underline why Liverpool must stay focused as we try to rebuild confidence and consistency after a summer of major change.

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