Despite the actions of referee Paul Tierney, the central judge, who made the match tedious and shouldn’t have been interrupted by alleged fouls that many believed were strong but inadvertent plays, Liverpool was able to defeat Brentford during the 90 minutes, winning 3-0 thanks to two goals from Mohamed Salah and one more from Diogo Jota. Despite this, there were moments when this institution felt extremely frustrated.
Images from the Anfield stadium show players like Joel Matip’s frustration with the central referee’s decisions, but there are also different reactions on social media. James’ account Pearce in X shared that the “Kop” chant against Tierney was extremely harsh and severe.
Apart from reprimanding Joel Matip in a play in which the Reds and Christian Nordegaard never made contact, the other recurring grievance directed towards this referee was the manner in which the fouls were signalled and assessed. Although Brentford could resume the duel as soon as the foul was called, the Reds could not have this outcome, with the judge foiling their attempt to make a hasty retreat by the locals and allowing the rival to rearrange the play, thereby eliminating that unexpected play. Since he has had issues officiating the team’s matches, it is normal for this referee to incite too much agitation among the Anfield crowd. The Kop, however, will not stand for any more injustices during a match that featured more issues with officiating than football. Despite this, the Reds managed to pull off a significant victory that vaults them back to the top of the total table.
The really subpar English officiating still hurts Liverpool
Liverpool is one of the institutions impacted by this issue even if additional Premier League teams have since complained about subpar officiating; nonetheless, Tierney did not directly influence the scoreboard result on this particular occasion. This official did make a crucial win for Jürgen Klopp and his team more difficult to see on this occasion.
