Fans slam referee Damir Skomina’s decision to award Liverpool first-minute penalty

It took just 21 seconds for the Champions League final to explode into life as Liverpool were awarded a penalty when Sadio Mane’s cross struck Moussa Sissoko’s outstretched arm.

Referee Damir Skomina had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and there was a quick referral to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) before Mohamed Salah converted from 12 yards to give Liverpool the perfect start.

Salah’s goal was clocked at one minute, 48 seconds, making it the second-fastest goal ever in a Champions League final after Paolo Maldini’s 50th-second goal for AC Milan against Liverpool in 2005.

Replays suggested that Sissoko had been struck on the chest or the underarm, not the arm

It was the worst possible start to the Champions League final for Tottenham in Madrid

Slovenian referee Damir Skomina pointed to the penalty spot without any hesitation

Sissoko was left baffled by the decision as Skomina handed Liverpool a first-minute penalty

The penalty was timed at just 21 seconds and left Spurs stunned as they tried to settle down

Mohamed Salah celebrates with a knee slide after converting the second-minute penalty

But fans flocked to Twitter to disagree with the decision, claiming that the cross had actually struck Sissoko’s armpit and that VAR should have spotted this even if the referee hadn’t.

Matt Auld posted a screengrab of the moment and wrote: ‘When did the rule change for armpits to give penalties away??’

Aaron Greenbeck wrote: ‘If that’s a penalty then football is broken!!!’

Philip Dannatt wrote: ‘Absolutely no way was that a penalty that is one of the worst ever decisions I have seen – where is VAR?’

One user with the handle @Kane40_Be said: ‘That, a penalty? What a joke. Already a joke, this #UCLfinal. Now they’ll aim on purpose on their opponents’ hands/arms and we’ll see 15 penalties per game. Fun times ahead.’

Another comment read: ‘Football is a joke tbh if you get penalties for handball like that. Chest and falls onto arm.’

There were conflicting opinions on whether the penalty award was justified in the BT Sport studio at half-time.

Rio Ferdinand said: ‘It’s an absolute nightmare start. His hands are up in the air. When you put your hand up in the air like that in the penalty area you’re asking for trouble.

‘I don’t know why his hands are up there, who he’s talking to. He makes the decision easy for the ref.’

Michael Owen concurred: ‘I hate all this handball, everything gets given nowadays. It has to be a penalty. I think it’s a penalty 10 years ago, I think it’s a penalty when the next rule comes out.’

But Glenn Hoddle disagreed, saying: ‘It goes to his chest first then his hand. Is that intentional from his chest to his hand? No way. If it hits his arm directly, exactly that, but it hits his chest then his hand.’