Watch: Cody Gakpo’s legitimate opportunism bizarrely halted by Anthony Taylor’s whistle

Cody Gakpo was prevented from potentially scoring what would’ve been a brilliantly opportunistic goal during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at West Ham today.

With four minutes of normal time remaining, Alphonse Areola threw the ball ahead of him and bent down to pull up his socks, with the Reds attacker believing play to have restarted and duly advancing on the Irons goalkeeper.

However, just before the 24-year-old could get to the ball, Anthony Taylor blew sharply on his whistle to stop him in his tracks, much to the Dutchman’s understandable bemusement.

Gakpo had every right to go for the ball once the West Ham ‘keeper threw it forward, and why the referee called him back is a mystery to us. Indeed, with Liverpool’s number 18 having a potential tap-in, it could even have prevented a match-winning goal.

You can view the incident below, taken from TNT Sports’ match coverage and shared via @benson314326 on X: