Arsenal defender Saliba admits Odegaard handball WAS a penalty for Liverpool
William Saliba has admitted that Martin Odegaard's handball in the first half of Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Liverpool should have resulted in the award of a penalty.
The Gunners skipper slipped and handled the ball in the area shortly after Gabriel had given Mikel Arteta's side an early lead at Anfield.
Referee Chris Kavanagh waved away the passionate protests of Liverpool players, while VAR David Coote decided not to instruct the official to take a second look at the pitchside monitor.
Odegaard's intervention - however accidental - denied Mohamed Salah an opportunity to bare down on the Arsenal goal and Saliba believes that it should have been a penalty, though he maintained it was not his decision to make.
'Yeah, of course.' The 22-year-old chuckled in post-match comments to Viaplay. 'It was a penalty but I’m not the ref and they have to accept [it].'
Former Reds defender and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher latched onto Saliba's comments and claimed that VAR had also missed a 'blatant' handball in Aston Villa's 1-1 draw with Sheffield United.
Blades defender George Baldock got away with a decision after appearing to move his arm towards the ball in the box.
Carragher claimed during commentary on Friday night that he believed it to be a worthy of a spot-kick and he reiterated his point on social media.
'It was a penalty & the man of the match knows it!' Carragher wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 'Two blatant penalties for handball in the last two nights & VAR don’t get involved.'
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