Mark Lawrenson blasted Liverpool defender Andy Robertson for giving away a penalty in the 2-0 defeat to Napoli on Tuesday.
The pundit shared that he wasn’t convinced it was a penalty on first viewing, and that the more he watched Robertson’s foul on Jose Callejon, the more convinced he was that it shouldn’t have been a penalty.
However, Lawrenson quickly pointed the finger of blame at Robertson for the incident as he claimed the left-back made a lazy challenge on the Napoli player and gave the referee the opportunity to award a spot-kick.
“I am far from convinced it was a penalty for Napoli’s first goal – the first time I saw it, I thought it was the correct decision, but the more I see it the less I agree it should have been given,” wrote Lawrenson for BBC Sport.
“But it was still a lazy challenge by Andy Robertson on Jose Callejon, which gave the referee the opportunity to award a spot-kick in the first place.”
OPINION
Lawrenson may be right to question Robertson after the loss to Napoli, as the defender did carelessly dangle his leg near Callejon which made it easy for the Napoli player to hit the deck and earn his side a penalty. If Robertson hadn’t needlessly stuck his leg out then the Napoli player wouldn’t have had the chance to attempt to deceive the referee in the way that he did. However then again maybe Robertson felt like every other Liverpool fan did in that moment, in the fact that you feel VAR should have overruled the decision as the replay showed that the Reds left-back hardly touched Callejon at all. Hopefully the 25-year-old is able to put his mistake quickly behind him as he is an important member of Jurgen Klopp’s side. Robertson has featured five times in the Premier League this season, averaging an impressive rating of 7.20 on WhoScored, and has contributed one assist to the cause in the process.
