Dermot Gallagher has had his say on a controversial incident from Liverpool’s defeat at Anfield on Sunday.
It took just over 60 seconds for Bryan Mbeumo to fire Manchester United in front yesterday, although Michael Oliver contentiously let play continue despite Alexis Mac Allister lying prone on the turf after suffering a head injury in an accidential collision with Virgil van Dijk.
Despite Premier League guidelines stating that referees should stop play as soon as a suspected head injury is detected, so that medical staff can enter the pitch to treat the stricken player, the match official neglected that duty in L4, and it had significant consequences.
What did Gallagher say about that contentious incident?
Gallagher made his customary appearance on Sky Sports News‘ Ref Watch on Monday morning, and he claimed that Oliver was justified in playing on because no foul had been committed and the play progressed very quickly.
The former top-flight official said: “Is there a foul? No, because it’s Van Dijk who comes in behind Mac Allister. Michael Oliver assess it and says ‘no foul’ and play goes on very quickly.
“He’s forced to break with it and so is the assistant, so neither see Mac Allister behind them. Within five seconds, the ball is in the net.
“The first time they see Mac Allister down, the ball is in the net so that’s the first time they can go back [and check him]. It’s just an unfortunate incident.”
Liverpool should’ve defended better but Oliver neglected his duty
It was to Arne Slot’s immense credit that he chose not to make a big deal out of that incident in his post-match media duties, instead insisting that Liverpool ‘should have done better’ in trying to prevent the goal from being scored (liverpoolfc.com).
The Reds’ defending in that passage of play was indeed questionable (with Van Dijk being called out for his overall performance on the day), but that doesn’t absolve Oliver from culpability over neglecting to intervene when Mac Allister was down with a head injury.
We’re not having Gallagher’s claims that the referee couldn’t stop the play because of how quickly the goal was scored. The official had a clear sight of the stricken Argentine holding his head and also saw how the collision came about, but inexplicably didn’t blow to allow for treatment.
Slot is right in saying that Liverpool didn’t do nearly enough to stop Mbeumo from scoring, and the Reds still had almost the entire match to turn things around but spurned numerous gilt-edged chances in falling to defeat.
However, that doesn’t give Oliver a free pass over his costly moment of negligence in the opening minute at Anfield. Referees are supposed to have a duty of care towards players; in that incident, one of the country’s most prominent officials didn’t do his job. Sadly, neither did the home side in what followed.
You can watch Slot’s full post-Manchester United press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube:
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