What referee told Fulham players after awarding controversial Liverpool penalty

Fans have been left staggered by Stuart Attwell’s admission over the controversial penalty awarded in Liverpool’s win over Fulham on Wednesday night.

Darwin Nunez beat Issa Diop to the ball inside the penalty area and theatrically hurled himself to the ground, with Attwell pointing to the spot.

Yet replays showed that Nunez had absolutely played for it and that Diop had made no contact with the Uruguayan. Despite this, VAR did not overturn the penalty and Salah dispatched his effort down the middle for the only goal of the game.

Fulham felt aggrieved and incredibly, captain Tom Cairney claimed Attwell told one of his teammates that he made the wrong decision and that it shouldn’t have been a penalty.

Speaking to Sky Sports afterwards, Cairney revealed: “At the time, I wasn’t sure [if it was a penalty]. The ref made a decision, I thought he’d seen contact. I asked him on the pitch, ‘please just make sure they check it.’

“He said they checked it, but he said second half to one of our players that it wasn’t a penalty, so it’s frustrating because it goes to other people to make the correct decision.

“Issa Diop hasn’t touched him, Nunez has taken another step and then gone over, and then you lose to something like that at Anfield which is frustrating when we’re trying to climb as high as we can.”

Liverpool moved within four points of Manchester United and the Champions League places with the victory, while Fulham missed out on the opportunity to close the five-point gap between them and London rivals Brentford in mid table.

Attwell came under scrutiny last month when he failed to award Brighton a penalty against Spurs, with PGMOL chief Howard Webb issuing an apology and admitting Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg had fouled Kauru Mitoma inside the area in the 2-1 defeat.

Fulham boss Marco Silva fumed over Wednesday’s costly penalty call, which he branded “embarrassing” given VAR is in use.

“When you lose a game in football to that penalty, [it] is embarrassing,” Silva told BBC.

“When you have the referee, then the VAR

to help the referee, it is embarrassing.

“I didn’t speak with the referee. I think my players and everyone that is honest will say the same.

“I will listen over the next few days if it is a harsh decision but for me it is clearly not a penalty. The player is already in the air.”

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Mohamed Salah may be the man for consistency but fellow forward Darwin Nunez is the player who injects the element of unpredictability which is part of the evolution of Liverpool’s forward line.

Salah became the first player to score in eight successive home matches for the club with his penalty enough to secure a 1-0 victory over Fulham, making it five wins in a row and 12 goals in his last 16 games.

He was starting alongside Nunez and Luis Diaz, which at the start of the season was the expected first-choice forward line until the latter sustained a serious knee injury which sidelined him for six months.

As a result, the Fulham game was only the fifth time they had all begun a game together, but it was Nunez’s return to the starting line-up for the first time in half-a-dozen games which produced the key moment in the first half.

Having lost control 30 yards from goal, he set about regaining possession and nicked it back off Issa Diop inside the penalty area only for the defender to bring him down.

Manager Jurgen Klopp felt the spell among the substitutes helped reignite the Uruguay international, who was played through the middle as opposed to his more regular position out on the left in his maiden season.

“Darwin was like a racehorse, really motivated, really on fire,” said Klopp, who was particularly pleased with how the 23-year-old adapted to the vital counter-pressing role through the middle which has been performed so well by fellow new signing Cody Gakpo recently.

“Absolutely. I think for us it’s super-important. You could see in the beginning, defending the centre against Fulham is really important because Palhinha is there and that is their connector.

“We were a bit too early out there from Darwin, we tried to fix that, but he was like a racehorse – go, go, go, go for everybody.

Jurgen Klopp says he was pleased with his side earning a “super difficult’ fifth-straight win

“We opened up and that’s where we struggle slightly. We could sort that and apart from that he played a really good game, he was always a proper option for us and we needed that.”

But with only a slender lead to protect it was goalkeeper Alisson Becker who, not for the first time in this up and down season for the team, came up with the key moments to keep his first clean sheet in six matches with a good save from Carlos Vinicius.

The Brazil international has now made 100 saves in the current campaign, the first time he has reached triple figures in a single season since joining Liverpool.

“He is is for sure the most consistent player we have this season,” added Klopp.

“That’s actually not bad news, it’s good news, because if we are not in a great shape and the level of the goalie drops as well then we would have been completely lost. So, that’s fine.”

Meanwhile, Fulham manager Marco Silva claims the award of Liverpool’s match-winning penalty was embarrassing as his side slipped to an eighth defeat in 10 games.

Mohamed Salah scored from the spot for the second successive match to secure a 1-0 win after Issa Diop was adjudged to have brought down Darwin Nunez.

Silva was not convinced, however, saying: “The way they scored the goal, I have to say that is embarrassing.

“Today in football to give a penalty like that, after the VAR didn’t take that penalty (away) it is difficult to understand.

“I will not say nothing more because after it will be difficult for me and I don’t want to create more problems for me. It is difficult to understand that penalty,” Silva said.

“When Darwin touch the ball he start to dive himself but after he touched his left leg with Issa.

“They are going to say it is harsh but the referee gave and after the VAR cannot take (away). It is always the same conversation. I didn’t speak with the referee at the end or at half-time. I had some words with the fourth official.

“Issa told me that it is clear not penalty. The referee made a mistake and the VAR is there to take that decision and not allow the penalty to go on. That’s clear for me.”