Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo thought he had spotted the chance to put the ball into an empty net against West Ham United before the referee, Anthony Taylor, blew his whistle.

But rather than blowing the whistle for a free-kick, given the Frenchman had the ball in his hands, the referee signaled that the play could go on.

When Areola slowly got to his feet, he put the ball down for a free-kick.



While it was technically live at this point, as Gakpo advanced towards it, Taylor then blew to give the foul belatedly, realizing that the goalkeeper thought he had already stopped the game.

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Liverpool could have netted from that and the ball was technically in play, but that would have been unjust.

Taylor's signal with his arm was saying that was a foul, not that he hadn't seen an infringement.

When the goalkeeper has collided with the post, that’s when he should have stopped the play and blown the whistle.

The referee had played advantage rather than dismissed claims for a foul and when the ball was dropped on the floor, while it was technically live, it wouldn't have been the right thing to allow play to go on.

Taylor got a good few things wrong in the game — he somehow didn't book Lucas Paquetá for his challenge on Alexis Mac Allister for example — but the Gakpo/Areola decision was a classic case of common sense being used.
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