Former England international, Joe Cole has criticised referee, Paul Tierney for not awarding Chelsea a penalty during the first ten minutes of their Premier League clash against Liverpool on Wednesday night at Anfield.

Cole believes Tierney failed to be brave to award a penalty when Conor Gallagher burst into the penalty area and went down under a challenge from Liverpool defender, Virgil van Dijk.

Tierney did not point to the penalty spot and VAR did not step in, so play went on.

The match eventually ended in a 4-1 win in favour of Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Asked if he felt it was a penalty, Cole said on TNT Sports: “Absolutely.

“Sterling ghosts into the box, Gallagher takes a lovely touch and Van Dijk just squares himself off.

“I think he just leans into him. To me that is a penalty. In front of the Kop, first 10 minutes, I think the referee has not been brave there.”

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.