‘100%’ – Dermot Gallagher certain about one thing with refereeing decision from Liverpool win | OneFootball

Dermot Gallagher has had his say on one contentious refereeing decision from Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Newcastle on Wednesday night.

Stuart Attwell had a big call to make in the first five minutes as Mo Salah went to ground in the penalty area under contact from Lewis Hall, but he’d already blown for a free kick the other way just before that coming together.

The Reds winger was ultimately left bemused at having the foul given against him rather than seeing the referee point to the spot, although it wouldn’t have a critical bearing on the eventual outcome.

What did Gallagher say about Salah/Hall penalty claim?

As is customary after (or towards the end of) a Premier League gameweek, Gallagher was on Sky Sports‘ Ref Watch segment to review the major officiating talking points from the various top-flight fixtures.

On that incident in the opening minutes at Anfield, he deduced: “This is all about the referee. He feels that Hall has been barged by Salah outside the box.

“If Stuart Attwell hadn’t given a foul on Hall, it’s 100% a penalty because he’s brought Salah down; but the referee whistled for the first foul on Hall, so a free-kick for Newcastle rather than a penalty for Liverpool.”

Image via Sky Sports Premier League

A fortunate escape for Hall

From the sounds of it, Gallagher feels that Liverpool could easily have had a penalty from Hall’s contact on Salah inside the box, and they almost certainly would have if it weren’t for Attwell deeming the Egyptian to have been the offender in the first instance.

The Newcastle defender can count himself fortunate to have won the free kick, as had the referee not blown for a foul on the Reds’ number 11, he’d surely have been pointing to the spot just seconds later.

The decision unsurprisingly didn’t go down well with the Anfield faithful, but thankfully it didn’t become the major talking point from the game as the home side quickly shrugged it off to score through Dominik Szoboszlai and ultimately win with a degree of comfort.

On another day, that call from Attwell might have been pivotal, and a part of him may be relieved that Liverpool secured the three points convincingly to ensure that the post-match discussion centred around the ever-increasing possibility of a Premier League title party on Merseyside in May.