There was no search for an excuse for Liverpool’s defeat against Leicester City but many fans pointed out that Michael Oliver blew his full-time whistle early.
It was a game that should have been decided by our means with Mo Salah and Sadio Mane missing major chances in our pursuit of three points but the end of the game certainly should have come later than it did.
After Kostas Tsimikas was forced to climb into the crowd to collect a ball that was never going to be retrieved for him, the full-time whistle sounded with several seconds remaining of the five added minutes.
Here’s a selection of the thoughts on the early whistle:
Blowing up early was a bit mad. Maybe the ref thought we were never scoring either
— John Gibbons (@johngibbonsblog) December 28, 2021
https://twitter.com/NikhilShort/status/1475948845410435072
Ref just blew the whistle 7 seconds early when we’re near enough in their box. Great
— T🎯 (@tylfc9) December 28, 2021
Also, don’t get me wrong cause we wouldn’t of scored if we carried on playing for the next 6 months but how has the ref blown the whistle early there when we were on the attack ?
— Callum Sadler (@callum_sadler) December 28, 2021
We had passed the half-way line and were looking to launch a final attack but it wasn’t allowed to happen, due to the referees poor time keeping.
When the words ‘a minimum of five minutes’ are used, the game should never end before the five minutes have been completed and that’s why so many were frustrated.
Nevertheless, it is likely to have not made much difference on a disappointing night.