Alan Shearer and Roy Keane came to the same conclusion when they were both asked about Nottingham Forest’s late penalty appeal against Liverpool.
The Championship side’s fantastic FA Cup run came to an end after Diogo Jota’s late goal sent Jurgen Klopp’s side into a semi-final clash against Manchester City. The Portuguese ace lunged in at the back post to squeeze Kostas Tsimikas’ vicious in-swinging cross past Ethan Horvath.
However, one of the biggest moments of the game came when Ryan Yates appeared to be brought down by Alisson Becker, after he nipped the ball past the Liverpool and Brazil goalkeeper. Despite a lengthy VAR check, the pleas of Yates, his Forest teammates, and the crowd all fell on deaf ears, as the contact was not deemed to be enough to bring him down.
Shearer and former Manchester United captain Keane analysed the incident and both came to the same conclusion. Shearer connoted his thoughts on social media when he simply replied “no” to a tweet that believed Liverpool had got away with a clear penalty.
Keane also did not believe the contact did not warrant a spot kick, stating Yates was even “too honest” with the challenge. "The referee has got it right. It was a brilliant pass and an absolutely fantastic touch, but I think the problem with Yates is that he is too honest and not smart enough," Keane said on ITV after the match.
"He should really try and go into the goalkeeper more because he is thinking, 'I want to score' and we can’t criticise him for that. But he has got to go into the ‘keeper and we probably see a more experienced player do that.
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“I think the referee has got it right. It is frustrating because he is so honest and trying to stay on his feet but he needed to be smarter there." Klopp also praised his side’s performance, despite the fact they could have found themselves trailing Steve Cooper’s intense side on multiple occasions.
“It was the game we expected, especially if you don't use the chances and don't play as [good] as we could have done. We could have obviously played better, but we should have scored in the first half,” Klopp said after the game.
“The situations they had were counter-attacks when we lost the ball, but apart from that we controlled it absolutely.” The Merseysiders were drawn to face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the semi-finals at Wembley.
But Klopp refused to be drawn on the Reds’ huge clash against the Citizens, stating his only focus is on the next game. “We start with Watford, Benfica then City, City, United, Everton. From a Liverpool perspective these are all massive games, so we will try to play them once at a time and not altogether,” Klopp added.
“It will not be possible. Before the game, [we knew] obviously City would be the opponents if you want to go to the final anyway. The further you go in whichever competition, it is likely you will face City at one point.
"But it will be a tough one, we have to make sure we make it tough for City as well. There are a lot of games to play before then."
