Liverpool reporter Paul Gorst took to Twitter to share Anfield’s brutal reaction to referee John Brooks, after he waved away the protests about a perceived foul from Matty Cash on Luis Diaz this afternoon.
What was the Liverpool vs Aston Villa result?
Liverpool’s hopes of finishing inside the Premier League top four were dealt a huge blow today, drawing 1-1 against Aston Villa at Anfield, in a game with plenty of controversy.
Reporter James Pearce claimed that Tyrone Mings was “very lucky” to not be sent for an early bath after catching Cody Gakpo in the chest with his studs in what was the “most obvious red card”.
However, that was not the only time the referee was scrutinised in the first half.
The decision not to even blow for a foul when Diaz was brought down as he was racing through on goal left the Anfield crowd furious, as detailed by Gorst on Twitter, with the reporter saying:
“Loud boos all around Anfield as Diaz is brought down by Cash as the last man. Referee John Brooks waved it away.”
How did Liverpool play today?
It was a very questionable decision for Gorst not to even blow for a foul on Diaz, given that he looked like he was about to race through on goal, while the decision not to conduct a VAR review the foul by Mings left Pearce in disbelief.
That said, the Reds did not perform well enough in the first half, failing to register a single shot on target, while they were also lucky that Ollie Watkins blazed his penalty wide, after Ibrahima Konate clumsily brought the striker down in the box.
Jurgen Klopp’s men sprung into life in the second half, and Cody Gakpo thought he had equalised, but Virgil van Dijk was deemed to be offside in the build up, leaving some members of the media baffled.
Liverpool will be disappointed with their first-half performance, which ultimately ended up costing them, despite Roberto Firmino’s late equaliser, however, you could say that some strange decisions from Brooks did them no favours today.