Leeds United: Gary Lineker in sarcastic reaction to controversial Trent Alexander-Arnold role in Liverpool goal at Elland Road
Gary Lineker was “surprised” that Liverpool’s first goal against Leeds United was allowed to stand given current interpretations of the handball law.
Trent Alexander-Arnold looked to have won the ball from Junior Firpo with his arm shortly before he assisted Cody Gakpo’s opener on a dismal night for the Whites which ended in a 6-1 defeat.
VAR didn’t step in and the goal stood, with Mo Salah quickly adding a second. Luis Sinisterra pulled one back with the brightest moment of the night for the home side early in the second half, but for the second week running Leeds United collapsed at home.
Posting on his personal Twitter account the Match of the Day host wrote: “I know it’s in the build up, but given that goals are disallowed, or penalties awarded, when the ball inadvertently flicks someone’s pinky, I’m surprised that Gakpo’s goal was not overturned.”
Fly in the ointment
It looked like a handball to most observers, since it was far more than just a pinky that Alexander-Arnold hit the ball with, so the fact that the goal was allowed to stand is an obvious point of contention for Leeds United.
The first concession appeared to precipitate the second with the Whites still reeling from the apparent injustice.
But from there the home side was so poor, even after Sinisterra forced them back into the game by pouncing on Ibrahima Konaté before advancing on Alisson and clipping a lovely finish home.
It makes it difficult for anyone at Elland Road to argue that there was anything but a defeat likely to come from the game against Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Yes, key moments change games. And the opening goal was a key moment because up until then Liverpool didn’t look especially threatening.
But Firpo should never have lost the ball in the first place, and it would have only bailed him out for sloppy play had the goal been chalked off.
The left-back had a miserable night, as did Pascal Struijk next to him, with Javi Gracia’s side so clearly crying out for the return of Max Wober.
So it was a baffling decision, as Lineker expressed. And it opened the door for a landslide. But the Whites were so desperately poor it feels like it would be letting them off the hook to focus too heavily on the handball decision.
In other Leeds United news, even pundits who like nothing more than to wind up the club’s fans couldn’t understand how the goal was allowed.