Liverpool ended their Selhurst Park hoodoo on Sunday with an important 2-1 win which came thanks to a last minute penalty awarded for a Damien Delaney challenge on Christian Benteke.
In the aftermath of the game, both managers gave opposing views on how they saw the incident, so we decided to analyse the footage frame by frame and determine an outcome for ourselves.
Now, the man at the centre of it all has had his say, and he is not impressed. Damien Delaney took to Instagram to explain why he felt harshly done-by:
I can honestly say I didn't make contact with benteke today and IF there was slight contact I didnt impede him and certainly didn't feel there was enough to award a penalty in the 96th min...
If a penalty is awarded that late it has to be unequivocal, I waited over an hour to speak with the officials and in fairness to Andre Marriner he said he didn't think it was a penalty but he trusted his linesman that much he awarded it. With the way the game was ref'd and the physicality of both teams it was unbelievably harsh.
With how Wilfred and Yannick were man handled by Liverpool players over the course of the game, which I've no problem with, it was a really tough decision to take so late. All I can do is swallow it and hope to put this right.
It is odd to see that the ref didn't feel it was a penalty, but awarded it on his linesman's call without having a discussion about it first considering the stage of the game in which the challenge took place, but then again it's odd for a ref to disclose that information too.
Delaney is right in that it seemed soft compared to some of the physicality seen in the match, but there was contact, and he should never have been in that situation in the first place.
Some may see it as having a moan, but he's let the dust settle on the result and has given a response, which is something we would like to see more players do.
