Liverpool’s dramatic victory over Newcastle United has certainly caused some controversy.
The Reds claimed a 2-1 win thanks to second-half goals from Roberto Firmino and Fabio Carvalho, which cancelled out Alexander Isak’s opener for the visitors at Anfield. Carvalho’s strike came in the 98th minute, which was also his second goal in a Liverpool shirt.
In the seconds after Carvalho found the back of the net and wheeled away to celebrate, there were contrasting emotions on the sidelines. Liverpool’s bench was euphoric, while Newcastle’s was apoplectic with rage.
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The fourth official had shown a minimum of five minutes to be added for stoppage time. The precise moment of Liverpool’s winner came at 97.08, which has led to some criticism of too much time being added on.
Newcastle legend Alan Shearer posted a rather salty tweet in the aftermath of the goal. Shearer wrote: “Five mins injury time score in the 98th,” followed by a zipped-mouth emoji.
Richard Keys was also quick to give his opinion on the goal. The renowned pundit questioned why more time was added on, despite there being extra stoppages during the extra allocation.
“I can’t think of a better argument for an independent time-keeper than Liverpool’s goal in the third half last night,” Keys wrote on Twitter.
“Pope was on the floor 90 seconds in the five added. So the whistle should’ve gone at 96.30. Liverpool scored in the 98th minute.”
Ever since Carvalho’s goal, there have been opinions shared on both sides as to whether it was the right decision for referee Andre Marriner to allow further time to be added onto the additional five. However, there have been some Twitter accounts which have attempted to clear things up.
One of the people to share a screenshot showing a breakdown of the time added was former Liverpool and Newcastle United left-back Jose Enrique, who said that "things like this can happen" when teams try and run the clock down.
The screenshots show Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope going to ground with an apparent injury with the clock at 92.30. Play was halted for more than a minute, with the resulting kick taking place at 94.04, meaning a further 94 seconds needed to be made up from this one incident.
Newcastle forward Joelinton also went down with what appeared to be cramp, which earned an extra few seconds to be added to the time. The visitors then took an extra 30 seconds for a goal kick which also increase the stoppage time.
When Liverpool won the corner which resulted in the goal, the clock showed the time of 96.34, at exactly the minimum time needed to be played after the Pope stoppage. Marriner is then obliged to let the corner be taken, which the Reds do and keep the ball in the box which results in the goal.
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