Keith Hackett has revealed that Liverpool were rightly denied a penalty for a handball against Timothy Weah in their 3-0 Champions League win over Marseille.
The former FIFA referee and PGMOL chief explained exclusively to Football Insider that Weah was not penalised just before half-time as he did not move his arm towards the ball in the Liverpool box.
Liverpool travelled to a hostile Stade Velodrome on Wednesday night with three points on the agenda to put them in pole position for a top eight finish in the Champions League league stage.
Dominik Szoboszlai shone against Marseille as his clever free kick put the Reds ahead just before the interval, while they were 2-0 up in the 72nd minute through Geronimo Rulli’s own goal.
Cody Gakpo added another late on as it ended 3-0, but Liverpool will have felt hard done by after being denied a spot-kick before Szoboszlai‘s opener.
Timothy Weah handball vs Liverpool goes unpunished after VAR check
Liverpool were threatening Marseille‘s goal as the first half drew to a close, and felt they should have had a penalty as Jeremie Frimpong‘s cross seemingly brushed the arm of USA international Weah in the box.
Replays showed that the ball had landed on the top part of his right arm before he cleared the ball away, but after stopping the game for a VAR check, referee Slavko Vincic was told to play on.
The Reds soon took the lead anyway through Szoboszlai’s smart set piece, with two points now separating them and ninth place in the Champions League following the win.
Hackett explains why Liverpool were not given a penalty for Weah handball
Liverpool saw some penalty controversy shroud their previous game, as Hackett told Football Insider that Gakpo should not have been awarded a spot-kick against Burnley after a clear dive.
They were not given a penalty this time around, and the ex-PGMOL chief has exclusively revealed to Football Insider why that was the case.
He said: “The referee and VAR have made the correct decision not to award a penalty kick.
“There was no attempt by the defender to move his hand or arm towards the ball, nor did the player make his body shape larger.
“(This was the) correct decision by the officials.”
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