Liverpool star Cody Gakpo was bizarrely denied a goal against West Ham when Alphonse Areola presented him with the ball.
There was a moment of confusion during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with West Ham on Saturday afternoon when Areola rolled the ball over in the final minutes.
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Gakpo ran towards the ball, believing play was still on, intending to power it into the back of the net.
However, referee Anthony Taylor blew the whistle when the ball appeared to be in play.
The Liverpool striker looked perplexed but talkSPORT understands Taylor was already playing an advantage as just before Areola was adjudged to have been fouled.
As the West Ham keeper signaled for medical treatment, the referee exploded before Gakpo could reach the ball, with the Hammers’ advantage over.
In the previous phase of play, Areola jumped to catch the ball while Gakpo elbowed the Frenchman.
He saw Areola hit the deck and go into the post, leaving him with a shin problem.
After Taylor blew the whistle to signal the end of the advantage, he also signaled West Ham’s medical staff to tend to Areola’s injury.
However, not everyone was convinced, with former West Ham manager Stuart Pearce left furious on talkSPORT.
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He said live on air while commenting on the match: “I tell you what, the referee had just made his own rules here to cover up his mistake, in my opinion.
“If I was Gakpo, I would have collected the ball and put it in the net, but as he was running towards the ball, the referee blew the whistle and stopped him from doing so.
“Areola got up and was about to continue playing, but now he’s come down saying he needs treatment – I’m not sure.”
With the incident occurring just minutes before full-time, it proved to be a pivotal moment as Liverpool could have taken the lead.
The Reds ended up drawing 2-2, leaving them third in the Premier League and one point behind second-placed Manchester City, who now have two games in hand against them.
That could have effectively ended any chance of winning the title this season with three games remaining and two points behind leaders Arsenal.
With the departure of Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season, it was the only trophy they had left after being knocked out of the Europa League and FA Cup.
However, they won the Carabao Cup after beating Chelsea earlier this year in the final, meaning they won’t be leaving empty-handed.
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