Arsenal won 1-0 at Anfield, their first win there since 2012, but footage of referee Andy Madley talking with Arsenal players has Liverpool supporters fuming.
Arsenal won at Anfield, and Liverpool's supporters are arguing about the tunnel rather than the scoreline.
Kai Havertz scored the only goal. It was Arsenal's first win at Anfield since September 2012 and put Mikel Arteta's side three points clear of Manchester City on 24 points, according to the Daily Mail. Liverpool failed to score from 18 shots and stay fifth. It was Andoni Iraola's second home defeat of the season.
The row is about referee Andy Madley. Footage shows him talking with Arsenal players at half-time. The Mirror describes an exchange with Gabriel that ended in a fist bump. The Mail says he appeared to tell a joke to Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori and Declan Rice. The reports differ, and neither specifies what was said. The Mail adds that the encounter could have been entirely innocent, and that there is no evidence Madley is biased towards Arsenal.
The pitch gave Liverpool a sharper complaint. Alexander Isak had his shirt pulled by Jurrien Timber and no penalty was given, with VAR clearing it. Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher, Daniel Sturridge and Ian Wright all thought it should have been a spot-kick, the Mail reports. Iraola said he will tell players to go down, "because they're not going to call it otherwise."
My view: a chat in a tunnel is noise. The decision on Isak is the part worth arguing about. Eighteen shots and no goal is the number Liverpool should lose sleep over.
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Sources
Meanwhile at the desk
Two papers, two versions of the same tunnel chat: one fist bump, one joke. Neither paper supplies the punchline, which is exactly why this will run all week.
The Mail itself says there is no evidence of bias. A PGMOL explanation of tunnel etiquette would still be useful.
