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Even Arsenal Fans on Reddit Say Isak Should Have Had a Penalty
Arsenal won 1-0 at Anfield, but on Reddit the debate was about the penalty Liverpool didn't get. Fans of both clubs largely agreed Jurrien Timber's shirt pull on Alexander Isak should have been given, and the two other shouts should not.
Published Nov. 2, 2026, 06:39 GMT
Last updated: 2 Nov 2026References
The match facts are in our report on Arsenal's win at Anfield. This is what football's biggest online communities made of the decisions. The quotes below are the opinions of the Reddit users named, linked to the threads they were posted in.
The surprising consensus
On r/soccer, a clip of Liverpool's "double penalty shout" in the 29th minute (claims involving Mac Allister and Gakpo) drew a clear verdict: those two were not penalties, but the Timber pull on Isak was. u/ThatsMattia28 summed it up: "Neither of these is a pen, Timber on Isak was a pen", adding that "Most Arsenal flairs I'm seeing agree that the shirt pull was a pen and these are not".
Self-described Arsenal fans said the same. u/Irishbros1991: "isak shirt pull is a shout but these 2 no chance". In the r/PremierLeague match thread, u/Dr-gokuluffy761994, also an Arsenal fan, wrote that it "should have been given... He clearly prevents Isak from getting contact on the ball."
The real argument: should Isak have gone down?
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola said managers should tell players "to go to the floor" next time. Redditors picked up the same contradiction. u/wenger_plz argued "if Isak draws more attention to the foul, he probably gets it", and u/Absluke pointed out that players get blamed both for going down too easily and, here, for staying up.
u/onlyfoolsbrushin proposed a simple rule: "Shirt pull should just be an instant foul and yellow anywhere on the pitch. You can't do it by accident."
VAR gets the blame, again
u/gobbluthillusions, who described themselves as a Gooner, wrote that with VAR "There has been no net change except they've succeeded in sucking the drama out of the moment."
Liverpool's real problem
Several fans said the penalty row hides a bigger issue. u/Willyr0: "17 shots and 0 on target is a crazy stat". u/cheandbis: "Controlled 75% of the match but never made Raya make a save." (Official possession was 56%.) Others noted pundits agreed too: u/jigglyroom said Peter Schmeichel and Freddie Ljungberg saw a penalty, and u/adamwill86 added: "Even Ian wright said it was a penalty".
Join the debate
Read the full threads: r/soccer: Liverpool double penalty shout and r/PremierLeague match thread. Or tell us below: penalty or not?
How we wrote this: our staff read the reporting listed below, checked the facts against more than one source where possible, and wrote this piece in our own words. Anything not confirmed is labelled. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
