Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has indicated that the decision not to send off Trent Alexander-Arnold, by Andre Marriner, was the correct one after the Liverpool player handled the ball on the line against Newcastle United on Saturday.
The incident occurred as the game approached the midway point of the first half, with Liverpool leading 1-0 after Virgil Van Dijk’s headed opener, with Alexander-Arnold handling Salomon Rondon’s shot on the goal-line before Newcastle’s Christian Atsu followed in to score from the rebound.
Speaking to TalkSPORT Halsey said, “I thought Andre was absolutely spot on. He had initially denied a goal scoring opportunity but it rebounded off him to a Newcastle player who put the rebound into the back of the net.
“Had he denied a goal scoring opportunity? You have to say no because the ball ended up in the back of the net from a rebound.
“Technically he should have cautioned Trent Alexander-Arnold for deliberate handling of the ball but it wasn’t a sending off because he didn’t technically deny a goal scoring opportunity.”
OPINION
Mark Halsey is right to suggest that Andre Marriner did make the correct decision not to send off Trent Alexander-Arnold in Liverpool’s 3-2 win at Newcastle. Marriner was technically right in following the laws of the game and not giving Alexander-Arnold, the subsequent red card that usually follows handling the ball on the goal-line, because Atsu managed to score from the rebound, so the Englishmen did not deny a goal scoring opportunity. It was a crucial moment in the game that Liverpool knew they had to win in order to retain any realistic hopes of winning the title. Had Alexander-Arnold been sent off he would not have been able to have the positive impact he had on the rest of the game, and it would have left the Reds a man light for around 70 minutes, against a Newcastle side who showed plenty of resilience twice coming from behind to draw level during the game. Liverpool will probably be grateful that Atsu followed up and scored from the rebound, as they managed to go onto win despite the equalising goal and managed to keep Alexander-Arnold on the pitch for the rest of the game.
