Arsenal centre-back William Saliba has acknowledged that Liverpool should have had a penalty which may have decided their white-knuckle Premier League draw on Saturday. Jurgen Klopp was left perplexed after the final whistle, with Martin Odegaard going unpunished for handling the ball inside the box.
It was high-octane from the word go at Anfield, with Gabriel Magalhaes putting Arsenal ahead inside four minutes. Mohamed Salah lashed in an equaliser before the half-hour mark, and the two sides went back and forth on the hunt for three points until the final whistle.
The match finished 1-1, ensuring Arsenal spend Christmas Day top of the table, but a convincing penalty shout in the first half could have seen the contest turn out differently.
Salah’s forward pass was blocked by the hand of Gunners captain Odegaard, but referee Chris Kavanagh was unmoved and the VAR crew at Stockley Park opted not to recommend an on-field review.
Speaking after the game, Saliba was brutally honest in his assessment of the incident, admitting: “Of course, of course it was a penalty. But I am not the referee.”
The comments will make Kavanagh’s decision even more difficult to digest for Klopp, who said: “Yes I have seen it. I am pretty sure someone will come to explain it to me why it was not a handball but I don’t know how?
“We absolutely came through it, the boys were incredible,” he said. “It was one of the most intense, hectic games I have witnessed in 20 years in this league. And that says a lot. It was two unbelievable teams that really raised the bar to a different level.
“Both wanted to win it and there were moments for each side even though at that end in the last 15 to 20 minutes our team really wanted to win the game and didn’t find the right pass or quality moment at the end to achieve that.”
