Premier League called on to investigate 'unacceptable' Newcastle vs Liverpool fixture

Liverpool's 3-2 win over Newcastle United should be the subject of a Premier League investigation, according to former head of the PGMOL, Keith Hackett. The Premier League champions claimed all three points thanks to a 100th minute winner by teenage star Rio Ngumoha.

The Reds had looked on course for victory when leading 2-0 through goals from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike - with the hosts also down to 10 men after Anthony Gordon was dismissed for a challenge on Virgil van Dijk in the first half.

But the Magpies, without wantaway striker Alexander Isak, fought back, and after Bruno Guimaraes reduced the arrears, substitute Will Osula pounced to make it 2-2. That looked set to hand them a share of the spoils, before Ngumoha's unerring finish deep into stoppage time.

However, the game has come in for some criticism due to the amount of stoppages involved - and how little time the ball spent in play. There were 32 fouls penalised in the game, in which Newcastle also lost three players to injury.

Opta statistics also show the ball was only in play for 40.8 percent of the match. That's the lowest total for a Premier League game in 15 years, since Stoke City beat Blackburn Rovers in February 2010.

Former refs' chief Hackett says those numbers are unacceptable and has called on the Premier League to investigate - although he jumped to the defence of referee Simon Hooper.

Speaking to Football Insider , he said: "This is frankly an unacceptable stat – it fails to deliver value for money to the paying fans. I would recommend that the Premier League launch an investigation to determine where time was lost.

"Hooper is an official who likes to keep his interventions to a minimum and create a good game flow. I would suggest that he is not to blame, but clearly can greatly influence the amount of game-time by ensuring the appropriate amount of added time is applied.

"The game has a problem that cannot be overlooked – the Premier League must investigate."

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