Ian Wright and Alan Shearer rip apart Anthony Taylor’s ‘very messy’ decision which denied Cody Gakpo a clear goalscoring opportunity in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with West Ham

Match of the Day pundits Ian Wright and Alan Shearer were unanimous in condemning Anthony Taylor for his ‘nightmare’ decision during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with West Ham.

The Reds’ title hopes were dealt another blow as they were held by David Moyes’ men at the London Stadium, with the match featuring a controversial referee decision that appeared to deny them a chance of a winner.

With four minutes left on the clock, Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola fell to the ground after collecting the ball from a cross into the penalty area. He took his time getting back to his feet and referee Taylor waved on and didn’t blow the whistle.

Areola then rolled the ball out and Cody Gakpo ran towards the French goalkeeper in an attempt to pass the ball into an empty net. However, Taylor then blew his whistle without explanation and prevented the Dutchman from potentially giving Liverpool the lead late on.

His decision was questioned by Wright, who claimed the referee caused confusion by initially not stopping play when the convergence took place.

Ian Wright believes the officer was having a nightmare and was confused by his sequence of actions

‘The referee has had an absolute nightmare.’ The former Arsenal striker said this in Match of the Day. ‘The referee runs away and says ‘play on’.

“He stops and tells the guard to get up. He says, “Come on, let’s keep going.” He says that a few times. He [Areola] Finally he stands up and then he [Taylor] runs away.

‘He says play. Now that his back is turned, I think Gakpo should have run and finished that. Now he has blown his whistle – I don’t know what’s going on. He’s going there… I don’t know what’s happening there now.’

Shearer was similarly baffled by Taylor’s call and insisted the ‘mess’ was entirely his own fault.

‘It is a mess. The referee made the mistake of not blowing.’ said Shearer. ‘If the goalkeeper hit the post he should have stopped the game and blown his whistle.

‘He didn’t whistle, which is a mistake. The referee calls for the doctors and physios! They’re not even ready, they don’t even think he’s hurt. He’s not hurt, he is [Taylor] has tried to correct the mistake he made.”

He added: ‘It was a very messy situation caused by the referee.’

Prior to the incident, Jarrod Bowen and Andy Robertson had traded goals either side of half-time before Areola’s own goal appeared to have put the Reds on course for an important victory to keep the pressure on Arsenal and Manchester City.

However, Michail Antonio equalized 13 minutes from time to deny the visitors two important points as they returned to Anfield with just one point.

The incident-filled match also included a heated exchange between Mohamed Salah and Jurgen Klopp as the Egyptian was about to be substituted on the pitch in the second half.

Klopp appeared to say something to the Egyptian that provoked an angry reaction, and it led to Salah continually waving his arms, pointing at the pitch and then pointing at his manager.

Alan Shearer also opined that the referee made a mess during the match at the London Stadium

The match also featured a heated exchange between Liverpool star Mohamed Salah and manager Jurgen Klopp

Shearer had sympathy for Liverpool’s talisman and was able to understand his frustrations, saying: ‘We don’t know what Klopp said to him there. He said something that made him angry.”

“He clearly has the right feeling about being left out, and probably rightly so, even if he hasn’t reached the heights that Mo Salah has achieved over the years. He’s been an incredible player.”