Gary Lineker gave his take on Trent Alexander-Arnold nearly giving away a penalty against Tottenham Hotspur today. Did he get away with one?
Trent Alexander-Arnold will have had his heart in his mouth today as he nearly gave away a penalty against Tottenham Hotspur. Ryan Sessegnon burst through in the box and the Liverpool player ‘leaned’ into him, forcing the player to the floor.
Now, whether Sessegnon was ‘forced’ down by the arm or by thinking he could win a penalty isn’t clear. The referee didn’t give anything, while VAR didn’t see enough to intervene.
Alexander-Arnold didn’t concede a penalty, then. It was undeniably close but Gary Lineker took to Twitter to say that the Scouser actually defended it well.
“[He made contact] because that’s what was required to ease him off the ball,” said Lineker. “Not all contact is a foul. Basic, sound defending.”
Lineker on Alexander-Arnold penalty decision
Yeah, we’d go along with that. It would have been a very soft penalty and Sessegnon undoubtedly made the most of it. We can’t blame him for that – but Alexander-Arnold didn’t exactly shove him down.
Really, we’re just glad something like this went Liverpool’s way as it’s felt like nothing can go right recently. In the Premier League, at least.
But this was a moment that would have swung the game. Luck went the Reds’ way, though, and led to the three points. Happy days.
As for Alexander-Arnold, we don’t have any complaints with what he did here. There were moments across the 90 where he struggled to handle being isolated by Spurs – but we saw the advantage of having Ibrahima Konaté behind him. Every time they did get in behind, the Frenchman swept up perfectly.
So maybe this game can be a turning point for Alexander-Arnold. It hasn’t been his season at all but with Konaté back and Liverpool stringing wins together, his confidence should rebuild.
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