Referee Darren England drew an angry response from Bournemouth fans for his decision to award Liverpool a penalty in the Premier League clash between the two teams
Bournemouth fans fumed at referee Darren England after seeing their side fall behind to Liverpool through a contentious penalty.
The Premier League leaders travelled to the Vitality Stadium on Saturday and went ahead on the half-hour mark. The goal came when Lewis Cook tripped up Cody Gakpo in the area as the Dutchman was running onto the end of a through ball.
England immediately pointed to the penalty spot, though the decision went upstairs to VAR official John Brooks. Brooks confirmed Gakpo was offside, before also making sure Cook had tripped Gakpo.
While he was satisfied, replays appeared to show the Liverpool star had actually clipped his own legs before going down in the area. Mo Salah stepped up to score the resulting penalty, with Bournemouth fans immediately making their displeasure felt.
Cherries supporters could be heard chanting ‘1-0 to the referee’ immediately after the penalty. They also heard singing ‘The referee’s a scouser’ to make their unhappiness with England clear.
While Bournemouth supporters were left furious, the Premier League backed their officials. They said: “The referee’s call of penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the challenge deemed to have been a trip by Cook on Gakpo. The VAR also confirmed Gakpo was onside in the build-up.”
It was not just Bournemouth fans who were not convinced by England’s decision though. Supporters from their Premier League rivals also fumed at the refereeing team for the ‘hilariously bad’ call.
One fan wrote: “That is an absolutely hilariously bad decision, every week we have to deal with horrible officiating Cody Gakpo trips himself, it’s never a penalty.” A second added: “That is a pen because Gakpo tripped himself?”
A third fumed: “What’s the point of having VAR if they’re not going to see Gakpo clipping his own feet to go down for the penalty?”
A fourth said: “That’s not a penalty. Gakpo trips himself and goes down. If refs are going to give decisions like this in favour of Liverpool might as well hand them the title straightaway.”
A fifth added: “Definitely need to see a better angle of that Liverpool penalty because this one it looks like Gakpo trips himself.” A sixth concluded: “How was this a penalty for Cody Gakpo’s clear dive???”
To further add to their anger, England and Brooks combined to rule out a potential equaliser from David Brooks for offside. Though the Cherries pushed Liverpool hard, the Reds wrapped up the three points thanks to a superb second goal from Salah late on.
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