Jurgen Klopp has described the penalty Liverpool were denied against Arsenal as a “clear handball” from Martin Odegaard, which left him baffled by VAR.
Liverpool were trailing 1-0 at Anfield when Odegaard clearly handled the ball in the area under pressure from Mohamed Salah.
The movement of the Norwegian’s arm was unnatural, bouncing the ball off the turf as he slipped, but VAR David Coote adjudged it to have been unintentional and play was waved on.
VAR, as relayed by Sky Sports presenter David Jones, later explained that “they feel like Odegaard’s hand is moving back towards his body as he goes down.”
It was a strange explanation given the clear evidence, and Klopp was left asking why referee Chris Kavanagh was not referred to the pitchside monitor.
"Someone will explain it to me & tell me it wasn't a handball, but I don't know how" ?
Jurgen Klopp doesn't understand why Liverpool weren't given a penalty against Arsenal. pic.twitter.com/fN4Ayda1ep
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 23, 2023
“I’m pretty sure somebody will explain it to me, that it wasn’t a handball. But I don’t know how,” he told Sky Sports.
“I don’t say the ref can’t see it, because I have no clue where he was in the moment.
“But when somebody sits in his office, how can he not come to the conclusion it might maybe worth having another look at it?”
In his post-match press conference, Klopp joked that former referee Dermot Gallagher – a regular on Sky Sports as part of ‘Ref Watch’ – would find a way to side with his colleagues’ decision.
But the Liverpool manager is adamant it was a “clear handball.”
“I didn’t see it in the game, I saw it after the game. I think we all agree, of course handball,” he told reporters.
“But I wait, I always wait until Mr Dermot explains me the next day what’s really the case. He will find a way to explain to me that it was not handball!
“I don’t know. That’s, for me, a clear handball.
“I have no idea if that would have influenced the result or not, I don’t even know exactly when it was because I only saw it after the game and not in the game.”
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