‘I find it baffling’ – Sky pundit can’t believe what’s been said about key moment in Liverpool draw

Stephen Warnock has been left baffled by some of the social media discourse over a decisive moment from Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Despite dominating for most of the game, the visitors needed a late Mo Salah penalty to come away with a point, the spot kick being awarded after Aaron Wan-Bissaka lunged in on Harvey Elliott.

The former Reds defender was discussing the incident alongside Dermot Gallagher on Sky Sports‘ Ref Watch on Monday, and he pointed to the absence of any protests from the Manchester United players as a clear indicator that referee Anthony Taylor made the right decision.

Warnock said: “I find it baffling. I’ve seen this all over social media – it’s a lot of Man Utd fans saying it, suggesting there’s no contact. They think it’s not a penalty. 

“One thing we always talk about is the reaction of the player. Wan-Bissaka doesn’t argue it, no Manchester United player does. They all know it was a stonewall penalty.”

Although Wan-Bissaka didn’t make any contact on Elliott, it was still a wild and mistimed lunge from which the United defender was never going to get a toe to the ball.

As Warnock rightly says, the fact that neither the 26-year-old nor any of his teammates argued with Taylor – at a point in the game where his side led 2-1 with only a few minutes remaining – made it quite clear that a penalty was the correct call.

A rivalry as intense as this one will always give rise to extreme tribalism on social media, and the reaction of players to major refereeing decisions is invariably a more telling indicator.

Wan-Bissaka knew he’d erred in lunging in on Elliott, and that was evident in his body language as soon as the referee’s whistle had blown.