Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai escaped a second yellow card when kicking the ball away against Nottingham Forest earlier this season

PGMOL chief refereeing officer Howard Webb has discussed an incident involving Liverpool this season

For the more paranoid Arsenal supporters, there is a conspiracy in place to stop them winning the Premier League title.

And Liverpool were recently held up as proof of that.

During the Gunners' dramatic 2-2 draw at champions Manchester City last month, Leandro Trossard was sent off towards the end of the first half for a second bookable offence after kicking the ball away when City were awarded a free-kick.

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Having seen Declan Rice dismissed for a similar offence against Brighton earlier in the campaign, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said it was "very worrying" that such instances were occurring.

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Arsenal fans were then up in arms when it was pointed out Dominik Szoboszlai avoided similar censure when he booted the ball away in frustration during injury time of Liverpool's 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest the previous weekend.

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But referees chief Howard Webb has now highlighted the difference between the two incidents amid the ongoing Gunners grumbling.

"We ask the referees to try and identify situations that are clear, deliberate, and impact on the ability of the other team to restart the game," said Webb, speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.

"For example, there was a comparison made a couple of weeks ago between what Leandro Trossard did, in the Manchester City vs Arsenal game, and what Dominik Szoboszlai did in the Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest game.

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"They are incomparable in terms of the impact – one happened on a free kick to Manchester City, in an attacking area in added time at the end of the first half.

Trossard kicked the ball away and prevented City from being able to even think about restarting the game quickly, which I’m sure they would want to as it was 2-1 to Arsenal at the time."

Webb, who is the chief refereeing officer for PGMOL, added: “The other one, Liverpool were down at home to Forest, 1-0, it’s in 90+4 minutes, and there’s an offside or a foul given against Liverpool, and Szoboszlai, in frustration, kicks the ball across the penalty area – he’s wasting his own time.

It would be crazy for us to caution him at that point for kicking a ball away, when Forest would be saying ‘thanks a lot’.

"(If we cautioned him) we’d be seen as totally out of touch with the game in that situation, whereas the other one was impactful on City being able to restart the game.

In that situation, there were City players ready to restart, but there were no Forest players around and they wouldn’t have restarted quickly anyway.

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“People ask us to understand the game, so that made total sense to me.”


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