Bournemouth star Lewis Cook appeared to admit that he fouled Cody Gakpo as Liverpool were awarded a controversial penalty. The Reds headed to the south coast and left with all three points thanks to a Mohamed Salah brace. The Egyptian's first came from the penalty spot as Gakpo was fouled by Cook, albeit the decision to give a spot kick has divided opinion. The Dutchman raced onto a ball over the top and went over as Cook looked to cover round. Replays show that there appears to be contact between the pair, which sent Gakpo tumbling. VAR jumped in to review the decision and backed the referee's call.

After the penalty had been converted, Cook was spotted talking to a team-mate and looked to mouth the words: "It was a foul.". After the incident, the Premier League Match Centre posted online to clarify the incident. It wrote: "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.".

Michael Owen, the former Liverpool frontman, was stunned that there seemed to be debate around the penalty, admitting that referees have it tough when the general consensus is against them. He said on social media: "Stayed up to watch MOTD anticipating a shocking decision to award Gakpo a penalty. It’s an absolute certain penalty. What chance have officials got if half the population think that’s not a pen?".

Bournemouth boss Adoni Iraola was among those to have issues with the decision, especially after his side were denied one in similar circumstances recently. He said: "They give this one - then I will complain for the other one [in a previous game] because it's even more clear. So, I can complain about the consistency of the decisions.". Arne Slot, unsurprisingly, was on the other side of the debate. He said: "The only thing I can say — and I haven't seen it back — is that one of my players is on a clear one-vs-one with the goalkeeper, and he is falling down. So either he makes a dive or they touch him. "And if they touch him, it is a penalty for me.".

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