Would Liverpool have got 'soft' penalty in Premier League?

Liverpool defender Andy Robertson conceded his side's penalty for a late Champions League winner at Inter Milan "looked soft".

The spot-kick was scored by Dominik Szoboszlai with two minutes remaining to seal a 1-0 success at the San Siro, sending the Reds up to eighth in the league phase standings.

It was awarded after Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni was penalised for pulling on Florian Wirtz's shirt.

Contact appeared minimal and raised questions over whether it would be given in the Premier League, but decisions are viewed differently in European competition.

"The penalty did look soft, but that's given anywhere else on the pitch," Robertson told Amazon Prime.

Wirtz went down inside the box after a small tug on his shirt by Bastoni.

After a short video assistant referee (VAR) review, the referee awarded the spot-kick and Szoboszlai stepped up in Mohamed Salah's absence to fire home his second goal in successive games after netting in the 3-3 draw at Leeds.

There was also another controversial incident in the first half, when Ibrahima Konate's close-range header was disallowed.

Szoboszlai's corner in the 32nd minute deflected off Hugo Ekitike's arm and looped up to Konate, who nodded in.

However, after a five-minute VAR check, the goal was ruled out for handball.

Many observers agreed the penalty was soft.

"Did they deserve to get that penalty? Probably not, but the fans won't care," former Liverpool full-back Stephen Warnock said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, speaking to Amazon Prime, added: "I don't know how they came up with a penalty that never existed, but this is football.

"We are not happy. If you give a penalty like this, then every contact in the box is a penalty."

Ex-Inter Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf told Amazon Prime: "The defender should not do that, it wasn't needed at all, but definitely a light decision."

When VAR was first used in the Premier League, lots of soft penalties were awarded.

Liverpool fans will remember the spot-kick they conceded at Brighton when Robertson tapped the bottom of Danny Welbeck's boot, and the striker went to ground theatrically. The VAR intervened and gave the penalty even though contact was slight.

This prompted a change in approach, to what the Premier League deemed "contact with consequence". It meant the VAR should take into account whether the touch, kick or pull was matched by the way a player goes to ground.

It is is why we started to hear references to glancing contact in a tackle or, when it comes to a shirt pull, a fleeting hold.

Holding the shirt is not a foul in itself, it must have impact on an opponent. If there's a little tug, and the striker falls like he's been pulled right down, he should not be rewarded with a penalty.

We saw this earlier in the season when Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade threw his arms up when a Bournemouth defender held his shirt. It could have been a penalty, but the way the Germany international went down counted against him, because it gave the impression of an unnatural fall compared to the extent of the shirt pull.

We've seen the similar kind of thing with handball, both for penalties and when a goal is scored, between the Premier League and in Europe.

At the start of the season, I specifically asked Premier League referees' chief Howard Webb about this.

He said: "If I get asked about it, and I do speak to my counterparts all the time, I am quick to point out that we are here to apply the Laws of the Game. Of course, as we have to do.

"But within the laws, the game is an element of interpretation, and with handball what is deemed unjustifiable, or unnatural is a judgement. It's interpretation.

"We see handball penalised in other places somewhat differently. I think that's out of a drive for consistency, particularly if you look at Uefa competitions, where you've got a lot of different footballing cultures coming together.

"So officials from all over the continent, teams all over the continent. Penalising those situations when the arm is away from the body more frequently gives that consistency.

"I would never say we're right, and they're wrong or vice versa. It's just all about trying to try to officiate the game in a way that best serves the expectations of the game where you're working.

"In terms of the debate around handball, here it's reducing significantly. That could only be because we're doing it in a way that the majority of people seem to think is the way that they would expect it to be done here.

"I respect the way it's done elsewhere, of course, but for us here, it seems to work well."