Former Premier League referee speaks frankly about Szoboszlai's red card

The disputed call made by referee Craig Pawson during the high-profile match between Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League keeps generating mixed reactions.

Especially the moment when Rayan Cherki scored in stoppage time but the goal was disallowed, along with the red card shown to Dominik Szoboszlai. However, according to a former Premier League referee, Pawson had no choice but to follow the rules strictly.

At that time, Man City was leading Liverpool 2-1, and Cherki took a shot towards an almost empty goal. Earlier, Szoboszlai had made contact by pulling Erling Haaland. Nevertheless, Craig Pawson remained calm, waiting to see if Haaland could still reach the ball before making his decision.

When Haaland failed to get to the ball, the Norwegian striker then pulled Szoboszlai back. This action directly prevented the Liverpool player from clearing the ball, constituting a clear denial of a goal-scoring opportunity. Since the referee did not allow advantage, VAR official John Brooks had to intervene and invite Pawson to review the incident.

According to the former referee's analysis, Craig Pawson was obligated to penalize the initial foul according to the laws. This was a clear case of denial of a clear goal-scoring chance. Therefore, disallowing Cherki's goal and issuing a red card to Szoboszlai were entirely correct decisions under the rules.

Moreover, the decision to award Man City a penalty after the collision between Alisson and Matheus Nunes was also deemed accurate. Liverpool's goalkeeper made an uncontrolled challenge while the ball was still in play, giving the referee no reason to deny the penalty. Thus, Liverpool cannot complain about this ruling.

Meanwhile, the Anfield side had previously argued that Marc Guehi should have been sent off for pulling Mohamed Salah’s shirt when the score was still 0-0. However, expert opinion suggests that since there was a covering defender behind, this was not a direct red card offense.

The above analyses indicate, despite being controversial and emotional for fans, Craig Pawson made legally correct decisions in one of the most intense matches in the Premier League.