Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers bemoans "clear penalty" vs Arsenal

Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers was scathing in his assessment of referee Howard Webb after Liverpool were denied a late penalty as they crashed out of the FA Cup, 2-1 to Arsenal.

Webb had already given Liverpool a dubious penalty to bring them back into contention, after Luis Suarez went down in the box, before the same player went down again under a strong challenge from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Rodgers was unhappy that his side were not given a second spot-kick to level up the tie and questioned Webb’s performance, having already had troubles with England’s World Cup referee in Liverpool’s defeat to Chelsea in December, Goal report.

Rodgers told reporters after the game, “It was probably a clearer and more blatant penalty than the first one.

“The first one Luis gets clipped, so for sure it was a penalty, but the second one is clear.

“I’m not sure if it was because it was just after that, but it was certainly a clear penalty. Luis has just got a touch on the ball, and Alex has just taken him inside the box in front of the referee’s eyes, so it was a strange decision.”

The result allowed Arsenal to gain revenge of Liverpool for the 5-1 defeat at Anfield last weekend and sets up another home clash with Liverpool’s Merseyside rivals Everton in the quarter finals.