Liverpool enjoyed a night to savour on Wednesday as they planted one foot firmly in the Champions League semi finals courtesy of a 3-0 win over Manchester City at Anfield.
The emphatic scoreline was largely down to a solid defensive display that prevented Pep Guardiola’s side grabbing that all-important away goal, however one incident suggests they were fortunate to get away with their clean-sheet intact.
While missed by most during the frenzied contest, Chris Foy, BT Sport’s resident referee, picked up on a challenge from Andy Robertson on substitute Raheem Sterling that should have resulted in a penalty for City.
Manchester City had a clear case for a penalty against Liverpool which went unnoticed
Andy Robertson threw himself into a tackle on Raheem Sterling has he dragged the ball back
The Scot didn’t touch the ball as he cleared out the City substitute, but no penalty was given
Sterling was brought on against his former club just 10 minutes into the second half as the visitors looked to salvage the situation, and the England international felt he had a clear case for a spot kick when he was brought down by Liverpool’s left back after dragging the ball back past the oncoming defender.
The incident went largely unnoticed at the time, but brought to the attention of the pundits inside the studio, they were unanimous in declaring a foul should have been given.
Pep will be very disappointed with this,’ said Rio Ferdinand. ‘If they get a goal at the end of this game it changes everything.
‘Back at the Eithad, they need to get a couple of goals and they are more than capable of getting a couple of goals. For me that’s definitely a foul, penalty.’
Former Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard concurred, and even noted there was a second instance to give a foul, with the ball clearly striking Robertson’s arm as he slides through.
BT Sport pundit Steven Gerrard noted how a foul could also have been called for handball
Sterling looked to the referee immediately after the challenge, but his protests were in vain
‘You could even give it for handball,’ Gerrard admitted.
As it is, Guardiola’s side will have to do things the hard way when they welcome Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium next Tuesday.
City beat Liverpool 5-0 at home back in September, and a similar scoreline will be enough to see him overcome their first-leg deficit.