The match was packed with contentious refereeing decisions, and complaints about VAR and referee Craig Pawson favoring City—or at least being inconsistent—have flooded social media and forums.
From reports and post-match analysis:
- The main Liverpool penalty shouts centered on two key incidents in/around the City penalty area:
- Mohamed Salah was pulled down by Marc Guehi around the 68th minute. Pawson awarded a free-kick just outside the box and showed Guehi a yellow card. VAR checked but confirmed no penalty (challenge started/finished outside the area) and no upgrade to red for denial of a goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO), citing a covering defender. Arne Slot was furious post-match, calling it inconsistent and demanding why it wasn’t a red—“If that’s not a red, what is?”
- There were also claims of a foul on Salah (or possibly another player like Federico Chiesa late on) inside the box that wasn’t given, with fans arguing it was a “deadly foul” or blatant pull/trip ignored by the ref, who waved “play on.” Some fans and posts describe this as a clear stonewall penalty not even reviewed or shown on big screens/replays during the game. However, mainstream sources (e.g., ESPN VAR review, Sky Sports, Premier League statements) don’t highlight a missed penalty call in the box beyond the Guehi one—most focus on the Guehi pull (outside box) and a first-half Bernardo Silva challenge on Salah (also waved away, deemed not a pen by pundits like Gary Neville).
- Other big calls went City’s way:
- Alisson’s late foul on Matheus Nunes in the box led to Haaland’s winning penalty (confirmed by VAR as heavy contact, no ball played).
- The stoppage-time madness: Rayan Cherki’s long-range “goal” disallowed after VAR pulled back to Szoboszlai’s earlier foul on Haaland (red card for DOGSO), despite Haaland then fouling Szoboszlai. This left both sides unhappy, but Liverpool fans see it as more proof of bias.
Fans online (especially on X) are calling it outright “cheating,” “robbery,” or “PGMOL doing nothing” about repeated inconsistencies against Liverpool. Slot echoed this, venting about lacking consistency (e.g., Guehi incident vs. other calls). Pundits like ex-referees (Dermot Gallagher, Keith Hackett) have sympathized with Pawson on some calls but noted the late chaos felt “cruel” or bureaucratic over spirit of the game.
No official PGMOL admission of error on a specific missed Liverpool penalty in the box has surfaced yet—unlike some past cases—but the outrage is real, especially with Liverpool’s push for top-four spots amid form struggles. These high-stakes games amplify emotions, and while some decisions (like Guehi) were technically upheld, the perception of “too many times” favoring opponents is fueling the backlash.
If you have more details on the exact incident (e.g., which player was fouled, approximate time), or if the replay you mentioned is from a specific angle/post, feel free to share—happy to dig deeper! Hang in there; these moments sting, but the season’s long. YNWA.
