Despite facing 27 shots, 10 of which were on target, Liverpool managed to achieve an incredible win in Paris with their first shot on target, scored by Harvey Elliott in the 87th minute.
Since the final whistle, there has been much discussion about Arne Slot’s team’s remarkable fortune, leaving many in the football world stunned. ..Continue Reading
A pivotal moment occurred early in the match when Konate appeared to push Bradley Barcola in the back as the PSG forward charged towards goal.
The TNT commentary team immediately called it a red card offense, a sentiment that was widely shared by fans online.
This defeat marked PSG’s first loss since November when they were beaten by Bayern Munich. From the start, PSG seemed poised to dominate, and had Konate been sent off early, the outcome could have been significantly different before the two teams meet again at Anfield for the second leg next week.
After the match, CBS Sports Rules Analyst Christina Unkel shared her opinion on whether the refereeing in the match was correct in not sending Liverpool down to 10 men.
“I’m actually going to disagree with the referee and VAR on this play,” Unkel said on the CBS Sports post-match show.
“I believe this should have been reviewed as a red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.”
She added: “There are two questions being asked. First, is the contact enough? You have to consider whether it’s more of a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge or if the attacker is properly running into the play, cutting him off, and gaining a positional advantage.
“In this case, the defender goes through the attacker, which isn’t just a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge. It doesn’t take much to throw an attacker off balance in that situation. The second question people will ask is whether the attacker had the opportunity to control the ball.
“The answer here is yes. He’s a high-level professional footballer, and it meets all the necessary criteria. So, I would have liked to see this called as a penalty, with VAR stepping in if it wasn’t called on the field.”
Konate, along with Alexis Mac Allister, Harvey Elliott, and Andrew Robertson, was walking a fine line regarding disciplinary action midweek.
A yellow card for any of them would have resulted in missing the second leg, having already accumulated enough bookings earlier in the tournament.
To the astonishment of fans both at the stadium and watching from home, all four players managed to avoid being booked by the referee. Consequently, Slot will have a full squad available when Liverpool hosts PSG at Anfield next Tuesday.
