Jeremy Doku has publicly shared his thoughts on the penalty incident involving him and Alexis Mac Allister in Liverpool’s 1-1 draw against Manchester City earlier this month.
The Belgian forward caught the Reds midfielder on the chest deep into stoppage time with what looked like a clear foul, but neither on-field referee Michael Oliver nor VAR Stuart Atwell saw fit to award a spot kick.
The 21-year-old has now spoken about that incident, insisting that the officials made the correct call but admitting that he was briefly worried when it was referred to Stockley Park.
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As per Liverpool Echo, Doku said: “Of course I agree [with the decision]. It was a risky challenge. I could have dealt with it differently. I still believe it wasn’t a penalty but I know some other referees would have given it. It wasn’t a penalty so I was happy.
“Was I worried? For a moment when they were looking at the VAR and maybe looking for a penalty. For me it wasn’t a penalty, but I understand why some people are angry and why the Liverpool fans believe it was a penalty.”
Despite his insistence that it wasn’t a penalty, Doku’s admission that he was momentarily worried after his ‘risky challenge’ suggests that, deep down, even he might think he got away with one.
Howard Webb was trotted out last week to spout some banal rubbish about it not being a clearcut spot kick, but it’s difficult to look at the footage and not think that the City winger was very fortunate not to have had a foul given against him.
Considering how many free kicks are given during the course of a match for far more innocuous ‘offences’, it’s understandable why many Liverpool fans would think that Oliver and Atwell quite frankly bottled it at Anfield a couple of weeks ago.
We accept that some refereeing decisions are 50-50, and that some contentious calls have gone in our favour this season, but it’s still staggering to think that more than one professional referee could look at the Doku-Mac Allister incident and not deem it a penalty.
We can only hope that, when we’re looking back on the outcome of the Premier League title race on the evening of 19 May, that moment isn’t being pinpointed as one which could’ve been pivotal in determining the eventual champion.
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