Premier League statement after defining Liverpool incident v Wolves as Gary Neville gives verdict

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The Premier League have issued a statement explaining Liverpool’s penalty award in their 2-1 victory over Wolves on Saturday night

Liverpool emerged victorious against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday evening in a result that moved them top of the Premier League. Ibrahima Konate put the Reds 1-0 up in first-half stoppage time but was then guilty of not clearing the danger which led to Rayan Ait-Nouri equalising for the hosts on 56 minutes.

The defining moment came soon after, however, as Nélson Semedo was adjudged by referee Anthony Taylor to have brought Diogo Jota down inside the penalty area as he tried to get on the end of a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross. Mohamed Salah stepped up and dispatched the spot-kick from 12 yards to send Liverpool one point above Manchester City and Arsenal. Explaining the decision, the Premier League match centre - which provides information directly from the VAR Hub and PGMOL experts - said: “The referee awarded a penalty for a foul by Semedo on Jota. The VAR checked and confirmed the referee’s call, deeming that contact was sufficient for a penalty.”

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Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville was on commentary duties for Sky Sports during the game and said of the incident: "He's got his left arm around Jota's neck and it's attracted attention. I don't think it'll be overturned. Wolves will feel it's soft."

The penalty was Liverpool’s first of the Premier League season, as they became the 10th Premier League team to be awarded a spot-kick so far this term. No team has been awarded more than one at the time of publication.

Reflecting on the win, Reds boss Arne Slot said: “Everyone is realistic enough, all the players they understand that six games into the season doesn’t give you a realistic view on the league table. That is more like 19 games that you can feel, ‘Right, where are we?’. But it helps if you get some good results, especially if you bring in a new manager and being a successor of such a successful one. Everybody understands that if we’d have lost four or five of these first six fixtures life would have been a bit different to how it is now.

“We still have to prove that if we come across Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea and Aston Villa if we can still be up there, with Champions League games included as well. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to convince the players for the challenges we still face. To play in the Champions League and then play Arsenal and Aston Villa and all the top teams we are going to face after the next international break. For us there is a lot to prove, especially if you look at the season two years ago and it is almost completely the same group.”

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