Paul Merson and Jeff Stelling disagreed over whether Aston Villa should have been awarded a penalty during their 1-0 defeat at Liverpool on Saturday, as they told Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports (11/12/21 at 4:45 pm).
Liverpool were 1-0 ahead when Danny Ings went racing through with Joel Matip on his toes and the German doing very well to put himself between the ball and the Villa striker.
The on-rushing Alisson Becker made a mess of the whole situation, ended up on the floor after running into Matip and then punched Ings on the leg as he tried to get the ball away.
Despite Ings going down, the on-field referee, who had just given a penalty to Liverpool at the other end, waved away the cries from the visitors.
Ex-Villa man Merson didn’t think it was a spot-kick, but Stelling felt that moment of ‘chaos’ should have resulted in the penalty being awarded.
Stelling: “Oh, it’s a penalty? It’s absolute chaos there. I thought it was a penalty, I have got to be honest. I didn’t think he got anything of the ball and I thought he got the player.
“Maybe it was one of those that you go and have a look at, at the very least.”
Merson added: “I think Allison has got a hand to this. He has messed this up – I think he’s touched the ball and Ings’ leg at the same time. His hands come off the ball and then hit Ings’ leg.”
From a defensive standpoint, it was a resilient display from Villa, who pushed Liverpool to the wire and, in the end, conceded from the penalty spot.
Steven Gerrard’s side were under the cosh from the get-go and they just couldn’t get their engine going during the game.
After Mo Salah scored from the spot, they were more forward-thinking as the Reds sat back and saw out the game.
There’s no doubt that the Villa fans will be frustrated that a penalty wasn’t awarded to them given the rash nature of Alisson’s challenge.
But after five games, this is a pretty positive start for Gerrard as Villa will now face the man that they sacked in Dean Smith and his Norwich side on Tuesday.
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