Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett believes Liverpool F.C. were fortunate to avoid a major refereeing decision in their 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
Ibrahima Konaté was involved in two key penalty incidents during the second half. The first, in the 70th minute, saw a penalty initially awarded for a challenge on Warren Zaïre-Emery, but VAR overturned it after confirming Konaté had won the ball cleanly.
Then in stoppage time, Konaté appeared to make contact with Nuno Mendes inside the box as he pushed forward, yet referee José María Sánchez Martínez waved play on and did not award a penalty.
Hackett praised VAR for correcting the earlier decision, calling it a clear and obvious error. However, he argued the late challenge on Mendes should have resulted in a penalty, insisting VAR should have intervened again as the contact affected the attacker’s balance.
Liverpool also had their own frustrations. Joe Gomez was booked despite a clean tackle on Désiré Doué, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia escaped punishment for pulling Konaté’s shirt earlier in the match.
Despite the controversial moments, PSG were the dominant side and could have won by more if not for wasteful finishing and several important saves from Giorgi Mamardashvili.
In the end, Liverpool can consider themselves fortunate to have lost only 2-0 — a scoreline that still gives them hope of staging another famous European comeback at Anfield.
