Andrew Robertson on Penalty Confusion, a Composed Mohamed Salah, and a Clean Sheet

In the 1-0 win against Aston Villa last night, referree Stuart Attwell angered fans and players with his decisions that saw a number of fouls against Liverpool go uncalled. Left-back Andy Robertson found himself in the thick of things.

“I think I was involved in every penalty shout, which isn’t like me!” he told liverpoolfc.com.

“The first one maybe not, but I thought the second one was definite – I’ve been wiped out as I’ve went for the ball. I’m not really sure that is allowed but I spoke to the ref at half-time and he said it was just a collision, and you have to respect that, but we’ve got a stone-waller down here [at the Kop end], which obviously wins us the game. It was important.”

He felt that Liverpool players needed to maintain cool heads to deal with the bizarre refereeing decisions.

“We could feel the frustration around the fans and getting on the ref and everything like that. I’ve been a fan and I’ve been in the stands and you know it’s not the easiest thing to do, but it was important we stayed calm and clear and let the fans kind of get on top of him and not let us get frustrated because we had a job to do in the second half and I thought we done it really well.”

The game was saved by Mohamed Salah who was fouled around the 62nd minute mark, leading to a penalty. He converted it coolly in true Mo Salah fashion, a fact that Robertson appreciated.

Their ‘keeper is known for saving penalties but also for trying to get in whoever is taking it’s head. I think we did a good job getting around Mo, letting Mo go into his own space and try to let him focus and let us deal with the kind of nonsense.

“Luckily Mo stayed composed and the ‘keeper went the right way, but when it’s that far in the corner you don’t save those. Delighted that it went in.”

Ultimately all’s well that ends well. “Clean sheet, which we’re delighted about”, said Robertson.

“It could have been a couple more goals, of course it could, but look, it’s all about picking up three points, especially at this period of the season.”