Howard Webb admits Liverpool should have had penalty for Odegaard handball

PGMOL Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb has admitted that Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty for Martin Odegaard's handball in their 1-1 draw with Arsenal on December 23.

Jurgen Klopp's side were denied the chance to top the table on Christmas Day due to their stalemate with the Gunners, who took the lead through Gabriel Magalhaes before Mohamed Salah drew the Reds level.

However, Arsenal survived a major scare in the first half, where the ball struck the arm of captain Odegaard with his hand planted into the ground inside the penalty area, leading to vehement calls for a penalty.

Neither on-field referee Chris Kavanagh nor VAR official David Coote saw fit to award a spot kick, though, with the former justifying the decision by stating that Odegaard's hand was on the floor.

Meanwhile, Coote argued that not giving a penalty was the correct decision given that Odegaard was falling to the floor and trying to move his arm into his body, and he was backed up by assistant VAR Lee Betts.

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However, speaking with ex-Liverpool striker on Premier League Productions programme Match Officials: Mic'd Up, Webb conceded that the Reds should have been given a penalty, claiming that Odegaard gained a "huge advantage" by bringing his arm towards the ball.

After Owen claimed that he would expect a penalty in that situation, Webb replied: "So do I. The referee on the field recognized that Odegaard had slipped and saw his arm go towards the ground.

"We talk about 'supporting arms'. If somebody falls, breaks their fall with the arm, it's all very natural and a pretty well-established concept. In this situation. though, there's an important difference to a normal play that's falling.

"This is not just Odegaard accidentally falling on to the ball. He does slip, his arm does go out, but he actually pulls his arm back in towards his body, which is when the ball makes contact with the arm.

"The VAR looked at that aspect. He felt it was a case of Odegaard trying to make himself actually smaller by bringing the arm back towards the body. That is the element that's important here.

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"Whether it's instinctive or deliberate, he gets a huge advantage by bringing the arm back towards the ball. All the feedback we got afterwards was very clear. This is one that didn't reach the right outcome on that basis."

Liverpool were already on the wrong end of one catastrophic officiating error at the end of September, when a Luis Diaz goal against Tottenham Hotspur was incorrectly ruled out for offside in a 2-1 defeat.

After the linesman's flag went up, Darren England in Stockley Park failed to realise that the goal had been ruled out on the field, quickly issuing a "check complete" after seeing that Diaz was clearly onside.

The PGMOL admitted to a "significant human error" over the incident at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Liverpool have since come up trumps in North London, sinking Arsenal 2-0 in their FA Cup third-round tie on January 7.

The Reds have also taken advantage of the Gunners' loss of form to establish a two-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, and they return to action against Bournemouth on Sunday.