Howard Webb has stood over a crucial refereeing decision from one of Liverpool’s fixtures in the early weeks of this season.The Reds’ Premier League campaign began with a 2-2 draw at Newcastle, with Dominik Szoboszlai converting a 99th-minute penalty to salvage a point for Andoni Iraola’s side.The spot kick was awarded for a foul by Lewis Hall on Victor Munoz inside the box, but despite vehement protests from the home side, the on-field decision of penalty was upheld by VAR, and both Gary Neville and Steve Nicol agreed with the call.Webb: Right call was made over Munoz penalty incidentThe VAR audio from that incident was publicised on the latest episode of Premier League Match Officials Mic’d Up (via Liverpool Echo).James Bell, who was on duty in Stockley Park for the game, said: “It’s knee-on-knee contact. He looks to take the ball past him, steps into his leg, doesn’t play the ball. It’s as he said, so I’m confirming the penalty… It’s knee-into-thigh contact, so we’re confirming the on-field decision of penalty.”(Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)Pro Ref chief executive Webb backed the decision made by Stuart Attwell on the pitch and Bell on VAR, saying: “Yeah, I think it’s a really good call late in this game… it demonstrates some real focus by the officials late in that game, the very last minute of added time.“They’ve worked together well as a team. You’ll hear the assistant referee talk about how Hall hasn’t played the ball, and that’s really important because Munoz is in possession of the ball and knocks it past Hall.“Hall doesn’t wipe him out, but he puts a foot in, and it’s what creates the contact that, in the end, brings Muñoz down, so a good and important decision right at the end of this game.”Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustThe penalty decision was correctNewcastle fans were incensed by the decision at the time, and their head coach Matthias Jaissle unsurprisingly objected to it, with the Geordie view being that there was minimal contact on the Liverpool winger, who went down too easily.It wasn’t the most forceful of challenges, for sure, but Hall still clipped the Spaniard and got none of the ball, so Attwell was right to award the penalty and Bell on VAR was right to back the on-field call.The Reds will feel that justice was done in that instance, but they would’ve felt very aggrieved by the awarding of a spot kick to Nottingham Forest the following weekend when Alisson Becker was adjudged to have fouled Neco Williams.The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel subsequently ruled that the wrong decision was made in that instance, but seemed to contradict themselves by taking the stance that no VAR intervention was needed ‘on the basis that it was not a clear and obvious error’.We’d have been very interested to hear Webb’s take on that particular incident, and judging by the first four weeks of the new season, the Pro Ref chief executive could have quite a lot of contentious talking points to address publicly throughout the campaign.The post ‘Really good call’ – Howard Webb stands over big VAR decision from recent Liverpool fixture appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.