Much has been made and many hands wrung after the decision to award Liverpool a penalty kick this past weekend in their match at Crystal Palace. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher for me, if I’m honest. And not necessarily because I’m a Liverpool fan—though that probably helps.

Even some Liverpool fans were at pains to lay down their own unbiased marker suggesting that it was ‘soft.’

The foul came in the 85th minute with Liverpool ahead 2-1 and Crystal Palace chasing the game.

Trent Alexander Arnold plays a beautiful ball over the top to Diogo Jota, who controls it, pulling the keeper out, then dinks it around the on-rushing keeper who was sliding on both knees trying to close down Jota’s angle, with both of them colliding as the ball dribbles slowly out of bounds. The referee originally waves off the penalty shout from Jota, but is asked to review it by the VAR staff for that match. He over-turns his call and awards the penalty.

Fans and pundits alike have called it everything from a soft penalty to the worst call all season. Mind you, the ‘worst call all season’ shout came from Micah Richards, uber-fan and club ambassador of Man City—the club Liverpool is chasing for a title.

But, I’ve always maintained when a defender goes to ground or lunges and doesn’t get the ball there’s only one result if he/she either makes contact with the opposing player or forces that player to alter his/her course without getting the ball. It’s a foul. End of story. And if it’s in the box, it’s a pk.

It doesn’t matter if the defender lunges or slides then pulls out, still making contact with the player. It doesn’t matter if the ball goes astray and can’t be played by the attacking player any longer—very likely he/she can’t get it precisely because they’ve been fouled. It doesn’t matter if the attacking player initiates contact after the defender has lunged or slid, especially if there’s no way to avoid the contact. Again, the story changes if the defender gets a touch on the ball. But Palace goalkeeper Guaita did not, he slid in, out of control, missed the ball, and clobbered Jota.

So, for me, it’s clear that this was and should have been given as a pk. For me, it’s the same as the Bruno Fernandes pk a few seasons ago versus Aston Villa—though I know some folks vehemently disagree. The Villa defender slides in, misses, and in avoiding the tackle and trying to maintain his balance, Bruno steps on the Villa player, which causes him to fall. That’s a clear as-day penalty against the Villa defender.

In almost every game, hardworking defenders get put in tough situations and are forced to decide between two bad options. Is it fair? No, it’s not. But that’s the game. So, maybe fair’s the wrong word here.

Does it fit within the spirit of the laws? I think it does, but then again, there’s no common acceptance as to what is or isn’t the spirit of the laws of the game.

But here’s what does it for me, as a player, if I’m defending and I go to ground, I go to ground knowing that if I miss the ball, I’m either getting called for a foul or the opposing player is through on goal. That’s the risk. And that’s exactly what happened here. It shouldn’t be that difficult to understand.