Liverpool stars involved in half-time chaos with linesman accusation

Liverpool players were left incensed at half-time of their match against Arsenal as tensions were running high with Andy Robertson accusing the linesman of “elbowing” him. Liverpool looked to be dead and buried inside the first half an hour with Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus giving Arsenal a two-goal lead.

But the game quickly livened up after a coming together between Trent Alexander-Arnold and Granit Xhaka with the hosts using the increased atmosphere to raise their levels. Mohamed Salah halved the deficit just before the break with tackles soon flying in from both sets of players.

The referee’s whistle then brought an end to the first half with both players clearly still riled up as they walked off the pitch. But there was confusion when Liverpool players soon surrounded linesman Constantine Hatzidakis with referee Paul Tierney brandishing a yellow card.

Liverpool players were furious with Jordan Henderson leading the protests and it wasn’t immediately clear what happened until Jamie Carragher mentioned on commentary that the linesman had elbowed Robertson.

It wasn’t until Sky Sports showed replays of the incident that confirmed what Carragher had said with Hatzidakis seen raising his arm to Robertson’s face. Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves caught the aftermath of the incident down the tunnel.

“Andy Robertson was absolutely apoplectic, stunned even,” he reported. “He said ‘the linesman has just elbowed me in the throat’ – Jordan Henderson was well aware of it and led the remonstrations with referee Paul Tierney and after that they got taken away. Extraordinary scenes.”