Newcastle fans were left red-faced after Trent Alexander-Arnold escaped a red card for a goal-line handball, the ace assisted a goal just eight minutes later.
Newcastle equalised in the 20th minute of the tie and this turned out to be one of the major talking points in the game. Alexander-Arnold appeared to clear the ball off the line with his elbow following Salmon Rondon’s effort, Newcastle eventually scored when Christian Atsu scored the follow up rebound.
The likeliest reasoning for Alexander-Arnold still being on the pitch is that the referee essentially forgave Alexander-Arnold’s actions considering that Newcastle did in fact score in the same period of play.
Whilst this decision may have been correct at the time, the events that followed certainly question the referee’s decision. Just eight minutes after avoiding a red card, Alexander-Arnold used his killer crossing ability to assist Mo Salah.
Take a look at the goal here.
The referee’s decision not to send Alexander-Arnold off has massively impacted Newcastle’s chances of coming away from today’s game with something.
Check out the incident below:
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL, Atsu, the equalizer to make it ??????#Newcastle 1-1 #Liverpool
Please follow : @goalstv3 to enjoy all goals on time ??
— happygoalstv3 (@happygoalstv3) May 4, 2019
Here’s a closer look at Alexander-Arnold’s handball, he sure is a lucky boy to get away with this one:
This tweet sums up why a red card wasn’t shown:
— A?DO (@COMM_ANDO7) May 4, 2019
Liverpool are very lucky that the referee failed to acknowledge Alexander-Arnold’s handball, fortunately for Premier League fans VAR will be introduced next season, it couldn’t come at a better time, officials need all the help they can get.
