“Honestly the referee favored us” – Arne Slot questions referee decisions on Chelsea despite 2-1 win
According to Arne Slot, referee John Brooks wanted to prove that he would not be intimidated by the Anfield fans during Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea.
Several VAR checks were made throughout Sunday’s game, including one in the sixth minute when Tosin Adarabioyo was shown a yellow card for hauling back Diogo Jota, who threatened to burst through Chelsea’s defenders just past the halfway line.
Liverpool seized the lead in the 29th minute when Mohamed Salah converted a penalty granted for Levi Colwill’s foul on Curtis Jones, but they were denied a second penalty on the stroke of halftime.
Nicolas Jackson equalized for Chelsea on 48 minutes, a goal that was deemed offside on the field but overturned on VAR review, before Salah crossed for Jones to score.
Liverpool hung on to secure a victory which returned them to the top of the Premier League but Slot suggested they may have enjoyed a more comfortable afternoon had the officials adopted a different approach.
Asked about the Anfield atmosphere, the ex-Feyenoord boss said: “The fans were really important for us. I don’t know if this is something people say in England but they said at my former club, which was also an impressive stadium, that ‘yeah, the referees are a bit impressed by the crowd and that’s why you get the easy decisions in your favour.’
“But today showed no matter how loud the fans were, the referee just wanted to show that he was able to give the decisions he had to make. So it did help us with the referee but it definitely helped our players because they had to work so hard.
“If every time they cheer so hard for you if you make a block tackle, or Darwin [Núñez] sprinted back, or all these moments, that definitely helps you mentally. They were really important for the players but unfortunately, it didn’t happen what all people always think that Anfield always gives you easy penalties.
“Is that true or not? Today, it showed again that it wasn’t.”
Slot described Sunday’s win over Chelsea as the most difficult of his tenure to date.
“Many other games were hard but this might have been the hardest maybe because of the amount of quality players they have and the structure they have,” the Dutchman said. “We had to fight really hard to get this one over the line.”