Liverpool get fresh Inter Milan penalty verdict after ‘injustice’ claim

Dominik Szoboszlai’s late penalty was enough to give Liverpool all three points away to Inter Milan, but the decision to award the spot-kick after a tug on Florian Wirtz was a hotly contested one

Inter Milan manager Cristian Chivu insisted his team have to “learn to accept” moments like the late penalty handed to Liverpool at the San Siro on Wednesday. Florian Wirtz went down under Alessandro Bastoni’s challenge, with referee Felix Zwayer pointing to the spot after a VAR check and Dominik Szoboszlai scoring to give Liverpool all three points.

It was a cruel end to the game for the hosts, who had lost Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi to injury in the first half. Chivu was reluctant to comment too much on the penalty, but his reference to ‘injustice’ perhaps gives an idea of his feelings.

“I rarely comment on refereeing decisions,” the Romanian told Sky Sport Italia. “I talk about education and what we ought to be teaching people, especially in the Champions League.

“The referee was in an excellent position to view the whole incident, and he decided it did not warrant a penalty.

“When VAR intervenes, it has to understand the dynamics of the game. We must accept the decisions and learn to combat against injustice, be more wary of these things, and try to focus on the good things that we can do.”

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Former England manager Fabio Capello was less forgiving in his assessment. “It’s a scandalous penalty,” he said.

“I don’t understand why the VAR had to intervene when the referee saw it all, the obvious simulation throwing himself to the ground.”

Inter star Henrikh Mkhitaryan added: “I don’t know how they came up with a penalty that never existed but this is football. We are not happy. If you give a penalty like this, then every contact in the box is a penalty.”

The victory took Liverpool up to 12 points from six league phase matches in this season’s Champions League. They have already played their four toughest games on paper, with Marseille and Qarabag awaiting in the new year.

After the game, Slot spoke to Prime Video Sport about the need for defensive solidity after a hammering at home to PSV Eindhoven in Liverpool’s previous European outing.

“I think I said a few times against [Nottingham] Forest and PSV, we conceded seven goals, it was time to concede less,” the manager said.

“West Ham was a clean sheet, Sunderland, the first chance was 96th minute, because their goal was not even a chance. Leeds scored three. Tonight I saw a performance from a team that worked really hard and showed resilience because the goal we scored tonight in the first half might have been a goal on another night.”

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