Manchester City took a point against Liverpool on Sunday in the Premier League – but there was one heartstopping moment right at the end.
John Stones gave City the lead in the first-half, tucking in a nice corner from Kevin De Bruyne.
But Alexis Mac Allister then equalised after Ederson brought down Darwin Nunez for a penalty, a challenge that would see the Brazilian go off injured shortly after.
City and Liverpool both had some decent opportunities to find a winner, but good goalkeeping from Stefan Ortega and Caoimhin Kelleher ensured the spoils were shared.
At the end though, there was a rather dicey moment when Jeremy Doku made a high challenge in Mac Allister in the area – and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker has now given his verdict on the incident…
Gary Lineker shares his opinion on Jeremy Doku’s challenge on Alexis Mac Allister in Liverpool 1-1 Man City
Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards were discussing Sunday’s big game on the latest Rest Is Football podcast.
Doku’s challenge on Mac Allister right at the end was something that became a big talking point.
It was something that had Richards worried at the time, but referee Michael Oliver did not deem it a foul, with VAR upholding the on-field decision. Replays showed Doku did get a bit of the ball.
Lineker has suggested that the Belgian did get a little bit fortunate though. Asked by Shearer if he felt it was a penalty. He said: “It’s one of those, again, that if he had given it on the field, he would definitely have given it with VAR. Perhaps was it quite strong enough to turn over, I don’t know.
“It’s another one of those where the law of the game now… everything has to have minutiae detail about this, that and the other. VAR can make it sound either way. I think it was just about maybe a foul.”
VAR wouldn’t have overturned it
It was a very contentious moment, and the right decision was probably reached in the end.
That said, had Oliver awarded a penalty against Doku, it is likely that the VAR would not have overturned the decision.
So in that sense, City were a little fortunate.
It was not a clever challenge from Doku. To have your leg that high in the penalty area is silly and rash, and Pep Guardiola will surely have had a word with him about it.
Thankfully for City, he managed to get just enough on the ball to ensure he didn’t get in trouble
