(Images) Michael Oliver awards Fulham penalty he refused to give Liverpool for carbon copy Gabriel handball

Oliver, Gabriel

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 20: Match referee Michael Oliver shows a red card to Douglas Luiz of Aston Villa during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Aston Villa at Craven Cottage on October 20, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

A lack of consistency in officiating decisions has left many a Premier League fan scratching their head over the course of the 2022/23 season.

Michael Oliver invited fury from Liverpool supporters during the 3-2 defeat to Arsenal as an apparent handball from Gabriel went unpunished.

Bizarrely the official handed a penalty for a somewhat similar situation in Fulham’s 3-0 victory over Aston Villa after Aleksandar Mitrovic’s shot struck Matty Cash on the arm.

It begs the question as to what exactly is an unnatural position for an arm to occupy given that the distance between players in both instances was minimal.

You can catch the images below, courtesy of @joel_archie (via @peterjharvey):

https://twitter.com/joel_archie/status/1583194200308297728?s=12&t=LauvTwWA6YGJ0cXmJcAlMQ