Carver laments penalty decision in Anfield defeat

John Carver felt Newcastle United should have been given a penalty during Monday’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

Goals from Raheem Sterling and Joe Allen settled the Premier League encounter in a game that the hosts largely dominated, as Newcastle fell to a fifth consecutive defeat.

However, Newcastle felt aggrieved at the lack of a first-half spot-kick when Dejan Lovren brought down Ayoze Perez – a decision that left Carver baffled.

“It comes down to a huge decision, I thought it was a stonewall penalty at the time and after seeing it again it was,” Carver told Sky Sports.

Defeat follows Newcastle’s derby loss to Sunderland, with head coach Carver adding: “It thought it was a good reaction after last weekend. There was energy on the pitch and we caused them problems.

“In the first 10 minutes we were quite tentative and then we grew into the game. We had a bit of pressure, didn’t get the penalty, and we were right in the game.

“We wanted to try get the points and it’s something that’s disappointing. But I can’t fault the effort.

“It’s been tough but last weekend was hard to take and we’ve restored some pride.”