Liverpool’s Robertson Brushes Off Watford Penalty Claims and Fires Back

Even after the match, Liverpool’s fullback is still working hard offensively and defensively.

It came at a tense moment during the second half of Liverpool’s visit to Watford this weekend. The scoreline was still goalless, and one sensed that the momentum could swing either way. Defender Andy Robertson extended a leg, Watford’s Will Hughes went down in the penalty area, and the hosts immediately appealed for a spot kick, but referee Jon Moss declined to award anything, infuriating Javi Gracia and his squad.

Not long after, Mohamed Salah opened Liverpool’s account, and the Reds seized the advantage en route to a 3-0 victory. Watford supporters were, afterwards, still less than happy about the referee’s decision, and talking heads on television echoed that sentiment: Martin Keown mused that Robertson had “got away with one” and that it “should have been a penalty.”

Robertson’s subsequent response?

“My conscience is clear.”

Asked about the incident, the Scotland international insisted that he had not made contact with Hughes despite the outstretched leg, and that in his view, Hughes had dived.

“I’ve watched it back and I still don’t think I made contact with him, I think he was looking for it,” the Reds’ defender stated.

“[Hughes] went down quite easily and I don’t know why the referee didn’t book him having not given the penalty,” added Robertson. “A lot of players try to buy penalties and sometimes defenders can’t do a lot about it. But I played on and tried to get the ball straight away because in my eyes it wasn’t a penalty.”

Instead of an opening goal for Watford, we ended up watching Liverpool preserve their excellent defensive record in the league, notching yet another clean sheet in the process. To add insult to injury, Robertson played a key role going forward in the match, setting in motion the moves that led to Salah’s opener as well as Firmino’s goal towards the close of the proceedings. Looks like the defender managed to get one last kick in with his comment about booking Hughes for diving.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com