The Northern Irishman is still Martin Atkinson’s decision to call Luis Suarez back for taking a quick free kick against the Gunners that led to Jordan Henderson converting
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has expressed his frustration at his side’s disallowed goal during their 2-0 defeat at Arsenal.
Having been cynically hauled back by Bacary Sagna, Luis Suarez got straight to his feet and took a quick free kick to Daniel Sturridge, whose cross was then tapped into the net by Jordan Henderson.
However, by that point, referee Martin Atkinson had already pulled play back in order to issue Sagna a yellow card, denying the Reds a goal that would have levelled the scores at 1-1.
Rodgers is still frustrated by the decision but is keen to put it behind him, telling reporters: “I was given an explanation afterwards and that was it, really. [There’s] nothing you can do about it now, so it’s gone.
“It was disappointing at the time. I said I thought the referee had a good game but, from that incident, it’s something that I said afterwards we were trying to get the flow of the game going and we’re trying to stop players rolling about if they get tackled.
“We were in a really dangerous situation and obviously Luis gets brought down and credit to him – and the ball wasn’t rolling.
“He’s done well, he’s stopped the ball, we’ve made an action to go and obviously there’s a high possibility it would have resulted in a goal.”
Henderson, whose ‘goal’ was ruled out in that incident, has nonetheless been recalled to Roy Hodgson’s England squad for their November friendlies and Rodgers is delighted for the midfielder.
“It’s great for the boy and it’s merited from the start he’s had to the season – he has been outstanding,” the Northern Irishman enthused.
“It’s a big credit to him that I’ve been able to play him in a couple of positions. If you’re going to a World Cup, you’re going to need players that can play in a number of positions well. He can do that, he’s shown already this season how versatile he is.
“He’ll make a lot of improvements over the next couple of years and can become a really top player.”