‘Very hard’ - Ex-ref delivers surprise verdict on controversial Newcastle United v Liverpool incident

Mike Dean has delivered his verdict on Anthony Taylor’s decision to award Liverpool a second penalty in the latter stages of their win over Newcastle United on Monday night. Taylor awarded the penalty after judging that Martin Dubravka had fouled Diogo Jota, despite the former Wolves man being able to take a few steps before going down.

Both Alan Shearer and Ian Wright slammed the decision on social media on Monday night with the former Gunners man posting on X: ‘Would rather go down for a penalty than put the ball in an empty net! Seen it all!’ Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher also didn’t believe there was much contact and that Jota went down ‘far too easily’. 

However, despite many believing that a penalty shouldn’t have been awarded, Dean revealed has sympathy with the VAR and referee. Speaking on Sky Sports, Dean said: “I think we’ve heard Stuart Attwell just then on VAR, well we have anyway, there’s clear contact by the left elbow of Dubravka on the foot of Jota. Soft one but once he’s given the penalty it is very hard to overturn.”

Mo Salah, who had earlier seen a spot kick saved by Dubravka, converted the penalty to give Liverpool a 4-2 lead and keep the Reds top of the table. Newcastle, meanwhile, have now lost seven of their last eight games in all competitions and face a trip to the Stadium of Light on Saturday aiming to avoid a third cup exit in the space of a month.