Steven Gerrard might feel better about the penalty that cost him a point in his return to Anfield if the referee went to the monitor before sending Mohamed Salah to the spot in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday.
“We’ve lost to a soft penalty because if you watch it properly, Tyrone’s been fouled first,” Gerrard said. “The disappointing thing is that the referee hasn’t gone to look at it.”
It comes as little surprise that Gerrard was focused on the match instead of how he felt managing against his beloved former club, though Anfield gave him warm applause when he emerged from the tunnel.
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And Gerrard knows that his former club was better on the day even if Jurgen Klopp needed a Mohamed Salah penalty to win the game.
He didn’t think it was a penalty, and he thinks if it was than it’s shocking to see Danny Ings kept from the spot in the late stages of the game.
Gerrard also admitted to an error in not chasing the game sooner. From the BBC:“Their style was better than ours, but we’ve done so well to contain them for large periods,” Gerrard said. “Ultimately the game has been decided by a penalty. There were two penalty incidents in the game, Liverpool got theirs – if you look at that one, Salah fouls Mings first.
“If an arm goes anywhere near Alisson, it’s a foul. So why isn’t a foul given for Danny Ings? They are the questions I’d like answering, but I can’t answer them right now.
“In hindsight I should have thrown a bit more at it a bit earlier, but you have to be careful Liverpool don’t hit you for two, three or four.”
Villa’s off to Norwich City on Tuesday before a visit from Burnley, two matches Gerrard will see as chances to surge back into the top half.
