‘Very harsh’ – Ex-PGMOL chief says Liverpool were hard done by over one incident v Galatasaray | OneFootball

A former chief executive of the PGMOL has said that the decision to disallow what would’ve been an equaliser for Liverpool against Galatasaray on Tuesday was ‘very harsh’.

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Having gone behind to an early goal from Mario Lemina, the Reds had the ball in the home side’s net in the 70th minute after a bout of penalty box pinball from a corner kick, but it was disallowed after a VAR review adjudged Ibrahima Konate to be guilty of a handball offence.

Replays showed that, while the ball struck the Frenchman’s arm first, it then rebounded off Ugurcan Cakir and Virgil van Dijk respectively before trickling over the line.

Hackett: Decision to disallow Liverpool goal was ‘very harsh’

Ex-Premier League referee Keith Hackett felt that the decision to disallow the goal was wrong, arguing that it wasn’t a deliberate handball from Liverpool’s number 5, and that it wasn’t his touch which propelled the ball over the goalline.

The former PGMOL chief told Football Insider: “It would appear that Konate was penalised for handball. Given the video clips available, I would suggest that this is a very harsh decision.

“The ball may have struck the arm of Konate. I do not see this has a deliberate action. I do not believe that Konate has made his body shape larger. The ball did not go directly into goal from his hand and arm in a deliberate or accidental manner.”

Liverpool will point to recent precedent as grounds for complaint

It took a few replays to make sense of a chaotic passage of play, but ultimately the handball from Konate wasn’t deliberate, and nor was it the final touch before the ball crossed the goalline.

Liverpool don’t have to go too far back for a relevant precedent – Alexis Mac Allister had a late goal disallowed against Nottingham Forest last month when Ola Aina’s attemped clearance struck the Argentine’s elbow and handball was given despite the Reds’ number 10 knowing nothing about it.

It was Hackett who pointed out after that incident that the decision was technically correct as the ball crossed the line after the contact off our midfielder, although the ex-referee argued that the ruling is ‘ridiculous’.

In that context, Arne Slot had legitimate grounds for complaint over the disallowed goal for his team against Galatasaray, and that outcome summed up the luckless night that the Reds endured in Istanbul.

Nonetheless, a refereeing grievance can’t be allowed to brush over another sub-par performance from Liverpool, who (despite Jamie Carragher’s supreme confidence) have a tough task at Anfield next week if they’re to avoid yet another round-of-16 elimination from the Champions League.