‘If you look at…’ – Howard Webb analyses contentious moment in Liverpool’s win over Palace | OneFootball

Former Premier League referee Howard Webb has said that Crystal Palace did not deserve a penalty against Liverpool last Saturday.

The Reds had to do things the hard way as they came away from Selhurst Park with a hard-fought 1-0 win, with Diogo Jota’s early goal being the difference between the teams.

VOTE for Empire of the Kop as Best Club Content Creator (Premier League) here: Football Content Awards OR on X with the FCA’s one-click X link with: I am voting for @empireofthekop in @The_FCAs for #BestClubContentCreator (Premier League)

However, the Eagles were unhappy with the officials for not awarding them a penalty in the second half when Virgil van Dijk seemingly held Marc Guehi and prevented him from reaching the ball during a set piece.

Webb assessed the incident on the latest episode of Match Officials Mic’d Up, saying (via premierleague.com): “In this case we see an action by Van Dijk that is very quick, particularly at full speed and the ball is always going towards the goalkeeper.

“We don’t think that the action really impacts Guehi’s ability to get to the ball. The referee saw it that way, didn’t penalise [Van Dijk] and when the VAR checked it, they saw it in the same way and cleared it for what it was, a very quick holding that didn’t impact Guehi’s ability to play the ball.”

“If you look at the [incident] at 50 per cent [speed], of course it’s going to double the amount of time the holding happens and if you put it at 25 per cent, it makes it four times as long and of course it can look a lot more impactful as well.”

A rare great call from Webb – Van Dijk was definitely not to blame

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

The former top-flight official was often a figure of controversy during his refereeing days, and he was frquently accused of being overly biased towards Manchester United.

However, we agree with Webb here – the Dutch centre-back was completely blameless in this incident, and slowing down the play makes things seem worse than they are.

Arne Slot said in his post-game interview that the Palace defender was not reaching the ball even without Van Dijk’s supposed holding, so it was the right call by Simon Hooper.

The Liverpool captain is not usually one to make defensive errors in such important moments and we’re glad that the officials on the day didn’t impact the game with what would’ve been an incorrect penalty decision.

The Reds boss was still upset at some other officiating moments across the game, but ultimately all that matters is that we were able to get the three points and remain top of the Premier League table.