Liverpool overcame Bournemouth by a 3-1 scoreline in their Premier League clash on Saturday.
Despite getting off to a great start at Anfield, Liverpool ultimately had too much quality for a Bournemouth side still settling in to life under Andoni Iraola to cope with.
The Cherries thought they’d taken the lead after just one minute, but Jaidon Anthony’s effort was ruled out for offside. Just moments later though, Antoine Semenyo struck to put Bournemouth ahead. At that point, Iraola must have been dreaming of his side pulling off a shock upset.
However, Luis Diaz struck for the Reds just before the half-hour mark to restore parity. Soon afterwards, Liverpool were awarded a penalty by referee Thomas Bramall, who adjudged Dominik Szoboszlai to have been tripped by Joe Rothwell.
The decision to give the penally has since proved contentious. Szoboszlai went down relatively easily, with a rather dramatic fall. Whilst there was contact from Rothwell on the Liverpool midfielder, it was minimal. Yet, the referee pointed to the spot and was not advised to reconsider by VAR.
Mohamed Salah stuck the penalty away on the rebound, after Neto kept the Egyptian’s initial effort out. From that point on, Bournemouth weren’t really able to get back into the game, even as Liverpool were reduced to 10 men. The referee made another highly questionable choice with his decision to send off Alexis Mac Allister for a slight coming together with Ryan Christie.
Diogo Jota then added a third goal to condemn Bournemouth to defeat.
Iraola frustrated by bad call
The penalty award was the moment that truly changed the game and robbed Bournemouth of any momentum.
Iraola has expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision. Speaking to BBC Sport after the match, the Spanish coach said, “we were doing pretty well and then the penalty came. It is soft. There is contact but it is a soft, soft contact. It was not an easy game to referee. If there is contact normally they don’t ask for second opinions. It was quite clear.”
Iraola was calm and collected in his criticism of the referee’s decision, but this match was a case of poor officiating dictating the majority of the talking points to emerge from the game.