Jordan Henderson has stated to BBC Sport that Danny Welbeck and ‘four or five’ Brighton players told him that they shouldn’t have been awarded a penalty during their controversial draw against Liverpool on Saturday.
Added with Henderson’s comments, Brighton boss, Graham Potter, did admit that Andy Robertson’s foul on Welbeck wasn’t ‘the most stonewall penalty’ and there are ‘some decisions you will get and some you won’t’, as posted by the club’s official YouTube channel.
From problems with the early scheduling of the game to debatable VAR calls, it was a ding-dong battle on and off the pitch at the Amex, which also saw Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp have a fiery debate with BT Sport reporter Des Kelly after the match.
Liverpool were clearly unhappy with the decisions that took place yesterday and they feel it was all topped off and thrown in their face when a penalty was awarded in stoppage-time.
Henderson was clearly raging at the full-time whistle and he made it clear that he wasn’t happy about what unfolded.
“I’ve seen the replay,” said Henderson. “Who would be happy? It’s not a pen. It feels like we’re standing here every week and discussing incidents. I don’t want to get into trouble, but for me, it’s not a penalty.
“Danny Welbeck said to me it wasn’t a penalty. There were four or five of them who felt it wasn’t a penalty. To overturn it, it has to be clear and obvious.
“Is that a clear and obvious penalty, to go to the screen and overturn it. Obviously, the referees know better than us, but I thought the lads were brilliant today and deserve the three points.”
It has been a testing time for those on Merseyside in recent weeks because they have had to deal with a host of injuries, quick turnover of games and then VAR calls seemingly going against them.
The only positive about all of that is Liverpool are sitting top of the pile on Sunday morning, but they could be dethroned by either Tottenham or Chelsea tonight.
VAR has been an itchy rash for every supporter, player and manager up and down the land. It was brought in to heal and improve the decision-making in the game. But it’s gone into the other direction.
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