“It’s a gift…” – Sky pundits hammer Liverpool player for ‘really poor’ first-half moment

One Liverpool player was hammered for a ‘really poor’ moment during the first half of the Carabao Cup fixture against Chelsea on Wednesday night.

It summed up how much of a slow burner this contest was that, by the 35th minute, there had only been one shot in total, a tame effort from Moises Caicedo.

However, on 39 minutes there was reason for the away fans to cheer as Ryan Gravenberch slid in on Moises Caicedo – who’d been running away from goal – inside the penalty area, and referee Darren England pointed to the spot.

Gravenberch slammed over ‘silly’ challenge

Morgan Rogers converted the resulting spot kick, which was swiftly cancelled out by a penalty at the other end netted by Cody Gakpo, and Liverpool’s number 38 was criticised over his challenge on Chelsea’s Ecuadorian midfielder.

Speaking on Sky Sports News, Lee Hendrie said: “For me, it’s definitely a penalty. It was a really poor challenge. He was nowhere near the ball.”

Meanwhile, in Sky Sports‘ live match commentary, Alan Smith proclaimed: “The silly thing for Liverpool is that Caicedo was going nowhere, facing away from goal. He didn’t need to make the challenge at all. It’s a gift for Chelsea.”

Not what Liverpool needed from an experienced player

Unfortunately, we have to agree with both Hendrie and Smith on this one – it was a rash and needless foul from Gravenberch, with Caicedo not posing any real danger as he wasn’t facing Liverpool’s goalmouth.

It’s a moment which’ll disappoint the Dutch midfielder, who’s experienced enough at this level to know better than to lunge in like that inside the penalty area, and few will disagree with Ian Doyle’s assertion that it was a ‘daft challenge’ (via Liverpool Echo).

The 24-year-old may have been very hard done by over his red card against Manchester City at Anfield earlier this month, but he could have no complaints about the spot kick which was awarded to Chelsea in the first half tonight.

So far in this game, Gravenberch has been outshone by his younger midfield teammate Trey Nyoni, who’s been aggressive in his pressing and has done his best to try and create a couple of chances for the Reds.

The Dutchman will have been relieved that his compatriot Gakpo swiftly levelled the score with his penalty in front of the Kop shortly before the interval.