Gary Neville was left dumbfounded by a major refereeing decision in the first half of Liverpool’s Premier League clash against Tottenham this evening.
Midway through the first half, Curtis Jones caught Yves Bissouma over the top of the ball, with Simon Hooper initially brandishing a yellow card. However, following a VAR review, the referee amended his initial decision to instead show the 22-year-old his marching orders.
Neville was speaking on co-commentary for Sky Sports and, just prior to the fateful technological intervention, he pleaded in vain for the original call to stand.
The ex-Manchester United defender said: “He is over the top, the ball is moving and it is certainly not a red, it looks worse than it actually is. His foot slips, it is not a red for me and this will ruin the game.
“I maybe wrong, but I just do not know any more. In slow motion, you will come to the conclusion it is a red card. I do not think he has gone over the top to do him.”
The still image showing Jones catching Bissouma on the shin certainly didn’t look too pleasant, and Hooper didn’t look at the VAR replays for too long before changing his original decision.
However, Neville has a point in mentioning how the Liverpool midfielder’s foot had slipped before the point of contact, so on another day it could easily have remained a yellow card.
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In any event, it’s resulted in a third sending-off of the season already for the Reds, something which’ll be of concern to Jurgen Klopp at such an early stage in the campaign, even if Alexis Mac Allister’s against Bournemouth was later rescinded.
Unfortunately for LFC, Jones is now set to miss our next three Premier League games through suspension, a real shame when he’s been in such flying form.