Any Liverpool fan who watched the first half of Sunday’s Premier League clash during Arsenal and Manchester City will have been infuriated over one thing they witnessed.
With neither team managing to break the deadlock before half-time, the main talking point at the interval was whether Mateo Kovacic was lucky to stay on the pitch for two notable fouls.
The Croatian midfielder was booked for a late lunge which caught Martin Odegaard on the ankle, an incident which was referred to VAR for a potential red card offence but didn’t see Michael Oliver’s on-field decision altered.
A few minutes later, the Man City player fouled Declan Rice with another late challenge from behind, but the referee surprisingly decided against showing a second yellow card to the 29-year-old.
The Super Sunday panel discuss whether Mateo Kovačić should have been shown a red card 💬 pic.twitter.com/LxtOmzzJ1F
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2023
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While many Liverpool fans will likely have a neutral stance on the Arsenal-Man City game given that both teams are direct positional rivals, they won’t be too pleased that Kovacic made it to half-time without being sent off.
Think back to the dismissals of Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota against Tottenham last weekend and it’s hard to see how either of theirs were more deserving of red cards than the Croatian today.
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The English midfielder caught Yves Bissouma high but didn’t seem to be any less in control than Kovacic for the foul on Odegaard.
Meanwhile, the Portugal attacker was dismissed for two yellow cards, the first of which was wrongly handed out as Destiny Udogie had actually tripped himself rather than being clipped by the 26-year-old.
The inconsistency of refereeing decisions has football fans tearing their hair out on a weekly basis, and Liverpool supporters may justifiably feel aggrieved over the two dismissals for Jurgen Klopp’s side last week when compared with Kovacic today.
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