'They've got away with one' - Debate rages on potential Crystal Palace spot-kick as Arne Slot says 'no penalty'

Joe Cole and Arne Slot had a difference of opinion when it came to Virgil van Dijk's alleged grab on Marc Guehi in the second half of Liverpool's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+. Cole insisted that the home side should have had a penalty , while Slot argued that the English defender would not have reached Trevor Chalobah's goal-bound header.

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Joe Cole was adamant that Crystal Palace should have had a “nailed-on” penalty in the second half of Liverpool’s 1-0 win at Selhurst Park.

Diogo Jota’s ninth-minute strike was enough for Arne Slot’s team to briefly extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points, but a contentious moment involving Marc Guehi and Virgil van Dijk could have had major consequences.

The Liverpool centre-half was seen holding onto the Englishman’s arm as the Palace player stretched to get on the end of Trevor Chalobah’s goal-bound header.

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And Cole saw parallels with an incident between Wesley Fofana and Crysencio Summerville in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over West Ham in September.

“Well we had it, didn’t we at West Ham?” said Cole. “I don’t know. Fleetingly he’s grabbed Marc Guehi’s hand. You can shout he’s not going to get the ball, but Van Dijk doesn’t know that.

“As Chalobah hits it into the ground, that could quite easily have dropped to him. He’s grabbed him by the arm and held him back.

“I looked - I like players’ reactions - and Marc Guehi’s not one to play for something. He really felt it was a penalty.

“So that tells me that I think that’s a nailed-on penalty. I think they’ve got away with one there. Palace are just coming back into the game here.”

In response, Liverpool boss Arne Slot admitted that the VAR "probably" would not have overturned the decision if on-field referee Simon Hooper had given a spot-kick.

"Yeah, well, the ball is going to the goalkeeper," retorted Slot. "He would never have got there. But probably, that's always [the case] with VAR, he wouldn't have changed it the VAR.

"But if this is for me, there's no penalty because he [Guehi] will never get the ball.

"But in general, I don’t think Palace fans can be unhappy with the referee today because it took 55 minutes for us to get our first free-kick. It was 15 for us, two for them. We had 74% ball possession."

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During the match, shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+, the Premier League Match Centre clarified the decision taken by on-field referee.

Their post on social media read: “The referee’s call of no penalty for the challenge by Van Dijk on Guehi is checked and confirmed by VAR - deeming that the challenge was not sustained holding and had no impact on the play.”

TNT Sports co-commentator Lucy Ward disagreed with the explanation, especially given the incident occurred inside the six-yard box.

“Yeah, I’m not sure,” said Ward. “I think that it was sustained, it’s right in front of goal, and it obviously did have an impact.”

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