'Needs outlawing' - Ex-Premier League referee issues strong verdict on key Chelsea vs Liverpool decisions

Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has weighed in on some of the decisions made during Liverpool's Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea. The Reds - without many of their stars - needed extra time to secure silverware, with Virgil van Dijk heading home a winner late in extra time.

Van Dijk had a header ruled out earlier in the game after a VAR review, but he rose in even more impressive fashion to net the winner. But whether the first goal should have been ruled out remains up for debate, with Wataru Endo starting the play in an offside position before jamming his marker from getting involved in the play. Some say he stood his ground, while others argue it was a deliberate part of Liverpool's set-piece routine.

Former referee Hackett sides with the former, claiming the goal should have stood in his Telegraph column: "The decision to rule out Virgil van Dijk’s opener at Wembley was incredibly harsh. Wataru Endo should not have been flagged offside and was merely standing his ground with Levi Colwill. It goes back to the inconsistency of decision making among the VAR and officials and until that is improved we are going to witness these flashpoints. This happens every week up and down the country, where holding offences go unpunished.

"Wataru Endo stood his ground - space is not owned by anyone on a football field - and there was nowhere he could go. Where is he expected to stand? The law says that an offence occurs when a player in an offside position interferes with the movement of the opponent towards the ball but I am not sure Colwill was getting to Van Dijk and he appeared to run into the Liverpool midfielder just as much as Endo made contact with him.

"I have always said that we should favour the attacking team in decision-making such as this one. We want to see matches full of goals but it feels sometimes we’re looking for excuses to disallow them which is a real shame."

Hackett also believes Moises Caicedo should have been sent off for his forceful challenge on Ryan Gravenberch, one that left the Dutchman in significant pain. "Liverpool’s sense of injustice does not stop there, however, and by the time Van Dijk scored they should have been playing 10 men anyway," the former official added.

He added: "Moises Caicedo’s foul on Ryan Gravenberch in the first half was reckless and it endangered the safety of an opponent. Again, there’s plenty of inconsistency here: you saw on Saturday that Harry Maguire escaped a sending off for Manchester United but Billy Gilmour was dismissed for Brighton.

"Aside from the clear and obvious nature of the offence, it left Gravenberch needing a stretcher. These types of challenges need outlawing from the game. Yes, it is a final and you want it to remain 11 vs 11 at all times, but it was a sending off offence. Chelsea got away with one there."