Fresh angle of Cody Gakpo’s penalty incident in Bournemouth vs. Liverpool surfaces, altering the narrative.

A newly surfaced angle of the foul that led to Liverpool’s penalty against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday has shifted fans’ perspectives.

In the 27th minute of a high-tempo first half, Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo and Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook chased a bouncing ball before Gakpo went down inside the penalty area, prompting referee Darren England to award a spot-kick.

Mohamed Salah stepped up and converted from 12 yards, securing his first goal of the match before later adding a second.

Initially, many fans believed Gakpo had tripped over his own foot rather than being fouled by Cook. However, the Premier League later clarified the decision on their Match Centre X account, stating:

“The referee’s call of penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the challenge deemed to have been a trip by Cook on Gakpo. The VAR also confirmed Gakpo was onside in the build-up.”

Now, a newly revealed camera angle appears to confirm that Cook did indeed make contact with Gakpo, dragging his foot across the Liverpool forward’s path before he fell.

After the match, Arne Slot weighed in on the decision, stating:

“I haven’t seen it back, but if one of my players is through on goal and goes down, either he dives or there’s contact. If there’s contact, for me, that’s a penalty.

“I could list multiple examples this season where we didn’t get the luck or the decisions we deserved. People always talk about luck for Liverpool or the team at the top, but this was simply a clear one-on-one situation.”