Liverpool are denied a clear goalscoring opportunity against West Ham after a bizarre decision by referee Anthony Taylor in 2-2 draw

Liverpool were denied a clear chance to score a late goal against West Ham after a controversial referee decision.

The Reds’ title hopes took another blow as David Moyes’ men recorded a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium.

However, with four minutes remaining 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 Anthony 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.

Cody Gakpo tried to pass the ball into an empty net before Anthony Taylor intervened

Taylor blew the whistle despite not having played an advantage after Areola went down

But Taylor blew his whistle without explanation and stopped the Dutchman from potentially giving Liverpool the lead late on.

That was just one of two controversial decisions he made after failing to penalize Lucas Paqueta early in the match.

The Brazilian caught Alexis Mac Allister with a studs-up challenge inside six minutes and was neither booked nor sent off.

Taylor was at the center of controversy last weekend as Nottingham Forest were awarded three penalties.

Forest tweeted afterwards that they had warned PGMOL that VAR Stuart Attwell was a Luton fan on that day. That suggestion of bias led to an FA investigation.

Saturday’s result leaves Jurgen Klopp’s side behind Arsenal and Manchester City ahead of Sunday’s matches.

The Reds fell behind on the stroke of half-time through Jarrod Bowen’s header, before Andy Robertson leveled the score three minutes after the break.

Klopp’s men turned the game upside down thanks to an own goal from Areola. Michail Anotnio made sure the spoils were shared with a header after 77 minutes.