Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was bemused as to why his side did not get a penalty for Martin Odegaard’s handball in the first half of their 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Anfield.
VAR ruled referee Chris Kavanagh had not made a clear and obvious error in not penalising the Gunners captain after his low hand prevented Mohamed Salah getting past him.
Klopp disagreed, telling BBC Sport: “The penalty situation is a weird situation, I don’t know if the ref can see it, but you look at it and I’m not sure how you can say it’s not a penalty.”
In his post-match press conference the Liverpool manager added: “I didn’t see it in the game, I saw it after and I think we all agree it was handball.
“But I always wait until Mr Dermot (Gallagher) explains it the next day (in his role as a TV analyst) what’s really the case.
“He will find a way to explain to me why it was not handball. For me it’s a clear handball. I have no idea if it would have influenced the result.”
Gabriel’s early header was cancelled out by a brilliant goal by Salah to earn a point and leave the two teams first and second in the table at Christmas.
However, the hard-earned point was not without cost as Klopp has a big problem at left-back now as Kostas Tsimikas, deputising for Andy Robertson who has been out since October with a dislocated shoulder, broke his collarbone in a collision which also floored his manager after being pushed by Bukayo Saka.
“The problem I had in that moment, I thought, ‘OK, I am fine,’ so I was assuming that Kostas was fine as well and he’s actually obviously not fine,” said Klopp, who is hopeful a knee injury to Luis Diaz is only minor.
“He’s broken his collarbone at least. It’s really bad for us. I cannot say anything about that (Saka challenge). You have to judge that, not me.”
Mikel Arteta, who played in the last Arsenal team to win at Anfield in the league in September 2012, is hopeful the experience of being in a title race last season will stand his side in good stead as they hold top spot on Christmas Day.
That will be particularly important as three of the last six occasions a team top on December 25 did not go on to win the league involved the Gunners.
“They are certainly more experienced. What they have done today on this pitch, in this stadium, with the atmosphere they created as well, that was something else,” he said.
“The maturity and the courage that we showed I think we should be really proud of our players. We have experience of being where we are today.
“We should be really happy because that shows a lot of consistency for this new group in the best league in the world to lead two years in a row.
“But that’s it. We are where we want to be right now, both in the Premier League and the Champions League.
“Of course there are things that we have to improve, especially killing games. With the amount of dominance we are showing, some of the games are too close.”
Nuno encouraged by Forest's attitude and commitment, despite Man City defeat
Nuno Espirito Santo believes Nottingham Forest will "achieve what we want" by replicating the attitude demonstrated during their defeat by Manchester City.
Forest went down 2-0 against their title-chasing opponents at the City Ground, and remain just a point clear of the relegation zone with three games remaining.
Despite the defeat, the hosts produced a spirited performance against Pep Guardiola's side, while registering 14 shots on goal compared to 11 from the Citizens - meaning they had had more shots in both meetings this season.
Forest face already relegated Sheffield United, Chelsea and fellow strugglers Burnley in their final three games, and Nuno has seen enough to be confident of securing the Reds' Premier League status for another year.
"We played a good game, were compact, organised and had chances," he told Sky Sports. "We did a good job regarding how hard it is to play against Manchester City, and the players gave it a big go.
"We are disappointed with the result, but the encouragement comes from the way we work, how committed we are, and what we have ahead of us. This is more important.
"We stay positive, and we go for the next three games. With this attitude, we will achieve what we want."
Defender Moussa Niakhate echoes his manager's thoughts, adding: "We had three big chances in the first half, but we didn't score. That was the difference.
"Everybody is working hard. We can be proud. If we perform like this in the next three games, we'll stay up."
Napoli 2-2 Roma: Late Abraham header denies wasteful hosts
A wasteful Napoli were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Roma in Serie A, with a late Tammy Abraham header securing a point for the visitors.
The visitors took the lead from the penalty spot a minute before the hour mark, with Paulo Dybala converting after Juan Jesus fouled Sardar Amzoun.
However, Napoli equalised six minutes later through Matias Olivera's deflected shot, and completed the turnaround with their own penalty six minutes from time as Victor Osimhen tucked away after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was felled by Renato Sanches.
The hosts could not hold on, though, and were pegged back with two minutes to go. Substitute Abraham's header from a corner was eventually awarded following a VAR review after he had initially been ruled offside.
Data debrief
Napoli remain eighth in the Serie A table on 50 points, the exact amount they had registered after their opening 19 games of last season.
Though his penalty was not enough to earn Roma victory, Dybala continued his impressive start to 2024, during which he has been involved in the joint-most goals in Serie A with 12 (nine goals, three assists).
Gvardiol: Four more finals for City in title fight
Josko Gvardiol believes there are "four more finals" for Manchester City between them and the Premier League title.
City won 2-0 at Nottingham Forest on Sunday thanks to a first-half header from Gvardiol before a 71st-minute Erling Haaland finish wrapped up the points.
The victory moves City one point behind leaders Arsenal with a game in hand. The Gunners played earlier on Sunday, winning 3-2 at north London rivals Tottenham.
The destination of the Premier League title remains in City's hands as they bid for a sixth Premier League title in seven seasons, and Gvardiol acknowledged that every game between now and the end of the season is vital.
"We need to be focused on ourselves," Gvardiol told Sky Sports. "That’s what we are doing.
"There are four more finals to the end so let's do it."
Gvardiol's goal set City on course for victory at the City Ground, nodding home from Kevin De Bruyne's inswinging corner.
It was only Gvardiol's second Premier League goal since arriving at City from RB Leipzig prior to this season.
Gvardiol was somewhat surprised to get on the scoresheet, saying: "I didn't expect to score, but I found myself in a good position.
"It was really tough especially as the pitch was really dry. It's a more than important three points."
Pep Guardiola was delighted to come away with the three points against a Forest side fighting for their lives at the bottom, with the defeat to City leaving Nuno Espirito Santo's men in a perilous position, just a point above the relegation zone with three games to play.
"It was a difficult game," Guardiola told Sky Sports. "They played with bravery. They have fast players with a lot of quality.
"It is a great victory as we had a lot of games behind us. These games are so, so tough at this stage in the Premier League. Now we have a long week to recover."
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