Premier League release statement after Marc Guehi denied penalty vs Liverpool with fans left furious

The Premier League has issued a statement following the incident where Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi was denied a penalty in the 1-0 defeat against Liverpool. Arne Slot continued his strong performance as Liverpool’s manager, leading his team to their ninth victory in ten matches with the win over Palace.

Diogo Jota netted the only goal for the visitors, who were largely in control throughout the match, scoring just nine minutes in.

A significant point of discussion arose when Guehi appeared to be fouled by Virgil van Dijk in the penalty area, yet the Premier League has now officially addressed this situation.

A header from Trevoh Chalobah in the Liverpool box seemed poised to reach Guehi just inches from the goal, but it appeared that the Liverpool captain pulled him down before he could make a play on the ball.

Referee Simon Hooper deemed there was no foul, and VAR supported this decision, resulting in no penalty being given to the home team.

Shortly after the ruling, the Premier League Match Centre account posted on social media platform X:

“The referee’s decision of no penalty for the challenge by van Dijk on Guehi has been checked and confirmed by VAR, which concluded that the challenge was not sustained holding and did not affect the play.

“However, fans expressed their disagreement with the ruling and took to social media to voice their frustrations.

In response to a clip of the incident on X, one fan commented: “Stops him from going for the ball, penalty all day.” Another added: “They said they would be stricter on this foul this season, but clearly not; that’s a penalty.”

One frustrated fan remarked: “He knows what he’s doing. Yet a qualified referee, with multiple replays and angles, says no. Get rid of VAR (the people); it’s too subjective and flawed.”

Conversely, some fans believed that Van Dijk’s actions did not warrant a foul or a penalty for Palace.

One supporter noted: “If that’s a penalty, every team would be getting 5 or 6 every game.”

Another stated: “It is definitely a foul, but Guehi wasn’t going to reach the ball anyway, so nothing was lost or gained in that play. No penalty.”