Former Liverpool star hits out at 'cowardly' Dominik Szoboszlai in bizarre attack

Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock bizarrely described a Dominik Szoboszlai challenge as 'cowardly' during Sunday's Premier League draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

The incident occurred during the closing stages of the match, when Arsenal's Jakub Kiwior jumped above Hungarian midfielder Szoboszlai to win a header in the build-up to the host team's controversial disallowed goal.

Kiwior's header was then flicked on by Kai Havertz, who ran onto the ball before lifting it over Caoimhin Kelleher. The ball then hit the post and Gabriel Jesus put the ball into Liverpool's empty net.

However, the goal didn't stand as the referee had already blown for a foul on Szoboszlai by Kiwior. Warnock, however, believes the decision went the wrong way as he said that the Liverpool midfielder risked injuring Kiwior by not challenging the Arsenal defender for the ball.

• Pep Guardiola agrees with Arne Slot's verdict on Erik ten Hag sacking

• Cole Palmer admission tells Liverpool all it needs to know about contract decision

Warnock said: “Kiwior has [thought], ‘I’m going in full-blooded’ if you like and Szoboszlai has... it’s a cowardly challenge isn’t it, I think, because you’re potentially hurting a player where he’s going to fall.“But I did not think that was a foul at all, I thought Liverpool were lucky there.”

Mikel Arteta was asked about the incident after Sunday's game but refused to give his opinion, saying: "I prefer not to comment." Meanwhile, former referee Mike Dean believesn the decision could have gone either way. "It's more of a soft foul if anything, to be fair he's just penalised the Arsenal player," Dean said. "It's probably a 50-50 call, for me. He's had a good game the referee, so I can't criticise him for that to be honest with you."

Unsurprisingly, the decision prompted plenty of criticism from Arsenal fans at the time. One X user wrote: "How has this not stood?? Clean header by Kiwior, clean by Havertz and valid onside goal from Jesus. Szoboszlai doesn’t even contest.. my head is gone." Another wrote: "Foul against Kiwior cos Szoboszlai refused to jump. These English referees make football uninteresting every week."

However, there were a few Arsenal fans who agreed with the decision, although they were very much in the minority. One wrote: "Personally, I think Anthony Taylor was right to find Kiwior at fault in this situation, as Kiwior had placed his hand first to jump up to compete, and this seemed to be illegal, so it's hard to blame the referee."