Arne Slot was left bemoaning one major refereeing decision from Liverpool’s controversial defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.
A madcap second half at Anfield ended with Dominik Szoboszlai being sent off for denial of a goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO) after he pulled Erling Haaland’s shirt in trying to race back to prevent a long-distance goal from Rayan Cherki, which was ruled out by VAR.
There was another contentious moment earlier in the second half when, with the deadlock yet to be broken, Marc Guehi tugged back Mo Salah’s jersey just outside the penalty area when the Red winger appeared to be through on goal, but the England defender got away with just a yellow card.
Slot felt Guehi shirt tug should’ve been a red card
That was the one refereeing incident with which Slot had a grievance from today’s match, arguing that most impartial observers would’ve interpreted it as DOGSO and therefore a red-card offence.
The Liverpool head coach told Sky Sports: “If l had to talk about one moment, it would be the time when Mo was through on goal and Guehi had hold of his shirt.
“Everyone who’s been in this stadium for the past eight years knows that if Mo Salah is in that situation, it’s a goal. That is definitely a goalscoring opportunity.
“Maybe that is 80-20. Maybe we could find 20 people from the PGMOL who’ll tell you that it’s not a red card, but I think in general, everyone would tell you that it should’ve been a red card. The other incidents are a bit more 50-50.”
Slot is right to call out yet more refereeing inconsistency
Slot is right to point out the latest bout of inconsistency from match officials in the Premier League, with two different decisions arising from two very similar offences.
Some might argue that Salah wasn’t bearing down on goal from a central position, but had he latched onto the pass into him, it would definitely have constituted a goalscoring opportunity.
That begs the question – why did Guehi only receive a yellow card for that incident when the VAR was chomping at the bit to get involved at the end of the game and persuade Pawson to show red to Szoboszlai?
“Anyone who’s been in this stadium for the last eight years knows that if Mo Salah is in that position it’s a goal!”
Arne Slot chuckles in response to questions around refereeing decisions in Liverpool’s defeat to Man City 🟥 pic.twitter.com/Zb6h8hVVAa
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 8, 2026
Many refereeing decisions are subjective, and it’s not the officials’ fault that Liverpool failed to hold onto their lead or even come away with a draw, but those two moments highlight exactly the double standards which infuriate fans, managers and players alike in this country.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb should be feeling rather uneasy after what materialised at Anfield today, and we can only wonder whether he’ll be wheeled out alongside Michael Owen for their stage-managed Mic’d Up show in which he’ll give some nonsense ‘justification’ for what happened.
What the former top-flight referee should be doing is having a word with the officials on duty for this game and asking them how they came to such differing verdicts on two similar incidents, with a proper explanation then being given to the public.
Slot had every right to be incensed over the Guehi/Salah incident, and had Liverpool been playing against 10 men for the final 20 minutes or so, who knows how differently this match would’ve played out?
Unfortunately, the Reds can do nothing to change today’s result. What they must do is learn to be more clinical with the chances they created but didn’t take during the second half.
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