Referee misses offside call in Liverpool draw with West Ham

Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A linesman missed an offside call, leading to Liverpool's only score in a 1-1 draw against West Ham United in the Premier League.

The play came in the 23rd minute of the game on Monday at London Stadium. Midfielder Adam Lallana was on the right flank during the sequence. He hectically dribbled between a crowd of defenders before turning his back to the goal. The Reds star then performed a Maradona in tight space before flicking the ball ahead for James Milner.

Milner was well ahead of the West Ham defense when Lallana hit his pass forward, but referees did not flag him for offside. The Reds right back used his first touch to fire a cross central.

Sadio Mane ran up and received the ball. He tapped the ball inside before turning and ripping a shot into the far-post netting, beating Lukasz Fabianski for first blood.

West Ham got the equalizer six minutes later. Felipe Anderson slipped the ball to Michail Antonio off of a free kick during that sequence. Antonio finished off the play by smashing a grounded shot off the left post, beating Liverpool's Alisson.

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini took issue with the lack of an offside call after the game. He also brought up the lack of a call later in the game when Liverpool's Divock Origi was not whistle for offside when he had a chance to score.

"Wethought we had a lot of chance to win this game in the first half," Pellegrini told the team website. "Finally we draw because they score a goal with clear offside when we did not have an offside."

Reds manager Jurgen Klopp said he didn't think Liverpool was lucky to get a point after the draw.

"But I know why [Pellegrini] thinks that, because our goal was offside, I didn't know that in the game and at half-time, nobody told me and I didn't ask," Klopp told LiverpoolFC.com. "After the game, our analysts told me immediately, so I can imagine that. They scored a goal, we scored an offside goal. But that's actually the only reason why he could think that -- and a couple of other set-pieces where they were really strong."

Liverpool battles Bournemouth at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Anfield in Liverpool. West Ham has a Premier League clash against Crystal Palace at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Selhurst Park in London.