Liverpool fans still have a lot to be thankful for after a 2-1 victory over Chelsea extended Arne Slot’s remarkable start to life at Anfield.
10 wins out of the Dutchman’s 11 first games in charge – after replacing Jurgen Klopp in the summer – is, quite frankly, stupendous.
Whilst commentators are obliged to focus on the positives, it would be remiss of any objective viewer to ignore the litany of officiating errors strewn about the Premier League encounter.
How did Reece James get away with a blatant dive?
It’s truly baffling the things some of Chelsea’s players were allowed to get away with during the Anfield clash – not least of all Tosin Adarabioyo’s efforts to deny Diogo Jota a potential goalscoring opportunity.
Now, feast your eyes on Reece James’ hilariously blatant dive to deny the Portuguese international a one-on-one at the 23rd-minute mark.
Reece James dived here after losing the ball and the ref blows for a foul, Jota was one on one. pic.twitter.com/Huy468cv0p
— Bright (@BrightPoint_) October 21, 2024
Sensational, daring, and downright infuriating considering Mo Salah had a legitimate penalty appeal waved off by John Brooks despite being hacked down in the box by Levi Colwill.
Gary Neville, ever gleeful in his criticism of the Egyptian No.11, took his cue during Sky Sports’ live coverage to accuse the winger of a ‘clear dive’.
If there was a similar criticism aimed at Chelsea’s No.24 – we totally missed it.
With that in mind, it’s not hard to see why a handful of Liverpool fans were left incandescent on X (formerly Twitter) by this latest error of judgement.
This was the decision I was pissed off with the most. It’s a 3 on 1 and great goal scoring opportunity. He lost the ball and dived. Simple as that.
— Arrows (@ArrowsRed9) October 21, 2024
I was furious after this replay
— ÀTG36 (@ATG36n) October 21, 2024
Three match ban for trying to ruin the game! Cheat.
— BjørnR.Hagen (@brh0203) October 21, 2024
The litany of refereeing errors that went against Liverpool
We don’t want to take the emphasis totally away from Slot and this Liverpool side’s achievements early on in 2024/25. We’ve seen ludicrous officiating calls spoil moments that should have never been tainted under Jurgen Klopp.
However, how can you be anything but focused on the officiating when you’ve got Chelsea’s boss, Enzo Maresca, laughably claiming that Anfield had influenced proceedings?
“The only thing I can say that sometimes in this stadium some decisions are for the noise of the crowd,” the Italian told Sky Sports.
Our Dutch head coach clearly couldn’t disagree more on that front judging by his expression of unadulterated rage after a soft foul was given against Darwin Nunez.
I think I’ve watched this about fifty times and I still agree with them bothpic.twitter.com/OPT3BucOvI
— The Anfield Wrap (@TheAnfieldWrap) October 21, 2024
Alas, we know it won’t be the last time England’s brand of incompetent officials inspire confusion and fury with their decision-making during competitive action.
All we can do is enjoy the points as they roll in and hope that Slot has the patience to overcome the refereeing inconsistencies that look set to plague the Premier League for the foreseeable.
