Michael Owen and Thomas Frank think that the right call was made to award Liverpool’s opening goal against Leeds United, despite shouts that it should have been ruled out for handball by Trent Alexander-Arnold.
There was no doubt that the ball struck Trent Alexander-Arnold’s arm before Cody Gakpo opened the scoring, but Brentford boss Thomas Frank felt that it ‘doesn’t gain any advantage’ for Liverpool as they put six past Leeds United at Elland Road on Monday night.
Former England striker Michael Owen agreed and he felt that it wasn’t enough for VAR to overturn the goal because it wasn’t a clear and obvious error.
This is probably one of those that, if the shoe was on the other foot, then Liverpool fans would be annoyed and frustrated at that goal being scored.
But instead, it’s Leeds expressing those thoughts because it was one of those incidents that split opinions.
Whilst it was a crucial moment in the game, because it was the opening goal, in the end, they got smoked by six, so they don’t have much to shout about, with Michael Owen and Thomas Frank sharing their thoughts, as they told Premier League Productions (17/04/23 at 8:55 pm).
“It clearly hits Trent Alexander-Arnold on the arm,” said Owen. “You can see the Leeds players all claiming it. In isolation, it could have been a handball actually. But it wasn’t deliberate. I mean, the ball was hit into his arm.
“It’s certainly not one for VAR to say ‘Oh, that’s an absolute howler. We are going to get involved’. It’s a debatable one and when there is debate, then VAR are now leaving it and rightly so. I think it was the right decision to let that goal go.”
Thomas Frank added: “But it doesn’t gain any advantage. I think if it’s close to the body, it hits it and it still goes forward. The ball doesn’t change direction (after hitting Trent on the arm).”
ANOTHER NIGHTMARE FOR LEEDS
That’s 11 goals Leeds have conceded in two home games and they are performances that have come at the wrong time of the season for the relegation-threatened side.
Yes, they will look towards that controversial opener from Liverpool, but what about the other five goals Leeds conceded?
The problem is that they haven’t learnt their lesson from that Palace defeat. Even at 5-1, players were bombing forward and leaving open spaces behind them.
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