Arsenal legend Martin Keown has defended the referee’s decision not to award Liverpool a penalty following Jurrien Timber’s alleged shirt pull. While Liverpool supporters and several pundits believe Isak was denied a clear penalty, Keown offered a different perspective on the incident.
And his argument is correct, not EVERY shirt pull is a penalty. 🗣️ “When it happened live, I didn’t think there was ENOUGH on it.”That was Keown’s initial reaction.He acknowledged that repeated replays made the challenge look more questionable, but argued that the referee had judged the contact to be below the threshold required for a foul.🗣️
“The referee thought it was below the level, below that bar of contact.”Despite Timber pulling his shirt, the Liverpool striker remained on his feet.
Keown questioned whether the contact had actually prevented Isak from challenging for the ball.🗣️ “If you’re being impeded, there comes a point when you do go to the ground and he didn’t. Did he?
“He also challenged the assumption that Isak would definitely have reached the ball without Timber’s intervention.🗣️ “Everyone is assuming that he was going to get his head on that
.”Keown’s point was that the incident should be judged on the impact of the contact, not simply the fact that a shirt was pulled.However, the other pundits disagreed, arguing that pulling an opponent’s shirt is an attempt to impede them, regardless of whether they fall.
The former Arsenal defender did not suggest Timber had done nothing wrong.In fact, he admitted that watching the replays made him want to warn the Arsenal right-back against repeating the action.
His advice was simple:🗣️ “Just be careful.”Keown acknowledged that future referees could pay closer attention to similar incidents.
But he also questioned why so much attention was being devoted to one controversial moment instead of Arsenal’s overall performance.🗣️ “We just brush over what a wonderful performance it was from Arsenal.” #afc
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