Henderson spills eye-opening Welbeck reaction to Robertson penalty clash

Andy Robertson, Danny Welbeck

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has revealed that Danny Welbeck thought Brighton should not have earned a penalty in Saturday’s dramatic clash.

Liverpool led 1-0 until the dying moments at the Amex Stadium, when the Seagulls claimed a last-ditch point.

Welbeck clashed with Reds full-back Andy Robertson, who – going for the ball – instead crashed into the Brighton man’s foot. And while referee Stuart Atwell did not initially point to the spot, he did so after consulting the screen.

Speaking to BT Sport after the game, however, Henderson revealed the telling admission from the player who was under the spotlight for the spot kick.

“It was ours. It should be three points, in my opinion. I’ve seen the replay. Who would be happy? It’s not a pen,” the England international said.

“It feels like we’re standing here every week and discussing incidents. I don’t want to get into trouble, but for me it’s not a penalty.

“Danny Welbeck said to me it wasn’t a penalty. There were four or five of them who felt it wasn’t a penalty. To overturn it, it has to be clear and obvious.

“Is that a clear and obvious penalty, to go to the screen and overturn it. Obviously the referees know better than us, but I thought the lads were brilliant today and deserve the three points.”

Brighton had the chance to claim a point after VAR previously denied Liverpool on two further occasions. Mohamed Salah and later Sadio Mane both had goals ruled out for offside.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp offered a “club badges” jibe in his response to the decisions.

Henderson, meanwhile, simply called the result an “error”.

Henderson slams Liverpool’s stolen points

Pascal Gross

“In the first half there were things we could improve on, in the second half we did that,” he said. “We had a couple of goals ruled off for offside.

“Overall we’ve got to be positive and take the performance out of it, because the result isn’t anything else but an error in my option. You’d rather get beat by two or three than end up like that. It feels like two points taken away from us.”

Despite the result, it was a positive return from injury for Henderson, who had missed his side’s previous two games. But as one player came back from the sidelines, another fell foul of a fresh issue.

James Milner went down in the second half, with Klopp confirming the midfielder has a hamstring problem.

Liverpool return to action with a Champions League clash against Ajax at Anfield on Tuesday.