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Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk seemingly impeded Marc Guehi in the Reds' penalty area late on in Saturday's 1-0 win against Crystal Palace but did not concede a penalty

Virgil van Dijk was found not guilty of a penalty infringement as he pulled back Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)(Image: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk walked a dangerous path when battling Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi in the closing stages of the Reds' 1-0 victory this afternoon. Home supporters cried for a penalty kick, however the Premier League have explained why they were not awarded one.

Arne Slot's men took an early lead at Selhurst Park through Diogo Jota but were unable to consolidate their advantage. This set up a nervy end to the match, the flashpoint being a major decision for referee Simon Hooper.

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As the ball was floated into the penalty area Palace centre-back Guehi moved to challenge Alisson close to the goal line. He had to evade Van Dijk to do so, and replays from behind the goal showed the Reds' captain to have grabbed his opponent's arm, causing him to lose the critical battle.

The home side were furious, and even with Vitezslav Jaros entering the fray for his Premier League debut at the expense of the injured Alisson, they were unable to find a way past Liverpool, who as a result move four points in front of Man City and Arsenal at the top of the table before they are each due to play this afternoon.

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Shortly after the incident, the Premier League provided official reasoning as to why the penalty was not awarded:

Referring to what happened in the 71st minute, they said: "The referee’s call of no penalty for the challenge by Van Dijk on Guehi is checked and confirmed by VAR - deeming that the challenge was not sustained holding and had no impact on the play."

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So, it was finally deemed by the officials that the contact made by the Reds' No.4 was not sufficient enough to impede Guehi in that position.

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