Liverpool were incensed after they were not awarded a late penalty during their 1-1 draw against Manchester City and Howard Webb has now weighed in with his opinion

Former Premier League referee Howard Webb has backed the decision NOT to award Liverpool a last-gasp penalty during their 1-1 draw against Manchester City earlier this month.

The Reds were infuriated after Alexis Mac Allister went down in the 98th minute at Anfield. The Argentine appeared to be caught in the chest by Jeremy Doku, who got some of the ball but followed through into Mac Allister as the Liverpool midfielder went down clutching his upper body.

Referee Michael Oliver waved away appeals and VAR official Stuart Atwell did not overturn the on-field decision. Jurgen Klopp claimed Liverpool were robbed of a “stonewall” penalty, while Mike Dean was unsure and Mark Clattenburg believes the Reds were unfortunate.

And now Webb, who was speaking on PGMOL’s Match Officials Mic’d Up show, has weighed in with his opinion and feels that VAR made the right call not to intervene. “This one has split opinion. I think it’s one where had the referee given it on the field, it would have been ‘check complete’ by the VAR,” Webb said.

Jeremy Doku

“But having not given it, it is also ‘check complete’. You can hear Michael Oliver say that the ball is in between. The ball is too low to head. Doku lifts his foot to play the ball and he does make contact on the ball. We know there is some contact on Mac Allister as well so he’s not really playing the ball either.

“I think it would have been ‘checked complete’ either way. Not wanting to to re-referee the game in situations that are not really clear, which is what we think the VAR is for in this situation. The VAR stays out of it. I think that is what we would we would expect.”

Webb added: “Sometimes you just don’t quite have all the information and you want that certainty in these big moments. Clearly, Michael [Oliver] didn’t have it in this situation. And then the VAR looks at it and doesn’t see a clear-and-obvious situation.

“You see something that’s pretty subjective and therefore stays out of it, and the feedback we’ve had from people within the game is that this is a pretty subjective situation. It’s split opinion. So on that basis, the VAR, working to that high threshold kind of followed the kind of the right course in not getting involved.”

Klopp was left seething in his post-match press conference as he claimed that Doku’s challenge was “100 per cent a foul”. The result prevented Liverpool from moving back to the top of the Premier League as Arsenal remained at the the summit until at least after the international break.

“He hit the ball but he can only hit the ball because his foot was right there. If the ball is not there, he kills him. It’s as easy as that,” Klopp said. “It’s a penalty for all football people on the planet.

“Why would the guy in the VAR studio think that is not clear and obvious? What must you have for lunch if you think that is not clear and obvious?”