Liverpool are denied a clear goalscoring opportunity against West Ham after a bizarre decision by referee Anthony Taylor in 2-2 draw

Liverpool were denied a clear opportunity to score against Liverpool but were denied by a bizarre refereeing decision. 

The Reds’ title hopes took yet another dent as there were held to a 2-2 draw by David Moyes’ men at the London Stadium. 

However, with four minutes remaining on the clock, Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola fell to the ground after collecting the ball from a cross into the box. 

He took his time to get back to his feet and referee Anthony Taylor waved play on and did not blow the whistle. 

Areola then rolled the ball out and Cody Gakpo ran towards the French goalkeeper in an attempt to pass the ball into an empty net. 

Cody Gakpo attempted to pass the ball into an empty net before Anthony Taylor intervened 

But Taylor blew his whistle with no explanation and stopped the Dutchman from giving Liverpool the lead late on. 

That was just one of two questionable decisions made by him after he failed to penalise Lucas Paqueta early in the match. 

The Brazilian caught Alexis Mac Allister with a studs up challenge inside six minutes and was not booked or sent off.  

Taylor was at the centre of controversy last weekend when Nottingham Forest were denied three penalties, with the club tweeting afterwards that they had warned the PGMOL that VAR on that day stuart Attwell is a Luton fan. That suggestion of bias led to an FA investigation.

Taylor blew the whistle despite not having played advantage after Areola went down 

Liverpool remain two points  behind leaders Arsenal following their draw with West Ham. 

The Reds fell behind through Jarrod Bowen’s header on the stroke of half-time before Andy Robertson levelled the scoring three minutes after the break. 

Klopp’s men turned the game on it’s head thanks to an own-goal by Areola. Michail Anotnio ensured the spoils were shared with a header.