Gary Lineker was discussing the penalty Cody Gakpo won against Bournemouth and doesn’t think PGMOL should be giving spot kicks for such situations.
Liverpool broke the deadlock against the Cherries courtesy of a clinical penalty from Mohamed Salah. It was the 20th strike of the Egyptian’s Premier League campaign but it did not come without its fair share of controversy.
The penalty was awarded by Darren England after Lewis Cook was adjudged to have tripped Cody Gakpo and denied him of a goalscoring opportunity but there was an outcry of injustice on social media as a result.
Minor though the touch that tripped Gakpo was, when you’re running at a high speed, such small touches are really all it takes to trip a player. It was a penalty but Gary Lineker said on his podcast that it’s too soft for the PGMOL to award.
Lineker thinks soft penalties like Gakpo’s shouldn’t be awarded by PGMOL
Speaking on the Rest is Football, the former England striker waded into the murky debate that is the current discussion on penalties in the Premier League.
Lineker said: “It’s one of those, isn’t it? Obviously, there’s zero intent, he was just trying to monitor him as he was going towards the byline. His back leg did actually clip the defender’s front leg, and that caused his two legs to go together which caused him to fall down.
“I think it’s definitely one of those that if he hadn’t have given a penalty, they wouldn’t have overturned it. I understand why they gave it, and they do seem to give fouls, free kicks, and penalties for those inadvertent flicks nowadays when it’s completely unmet.
“So, I think it’s a tough one, it’s a really soft penalty, but I never really thought that VAR would turn it over. Once I saw that there was a little bit of contact that led to him tripping over his legs. It’s definitely a soft one. I don’t think he should be given penalties for that kind of thing.”
What’s the alternative?
Unlike with VAR and offside, there is no objective rule to run in penalty situations and you cannot referee intent. Accidental fouls are still fouls and it’s a slippery slope to not award fair fouls.
Cook’s reaction was one of resignation and not protest which says it all.
Accident or not, he impeded Gakpo in his attempt to score the opener.
It’s hard not to feel for Bournemouth but Liverpool showed over the course of 90 minutes they deserved the three points.