Liverpool didn’t deserve anything from their trip to the Emirates this afternoon but Anthony Taylor did what he could to be the centre of attention once again.
Ibou Konate was sent off in the second half after receiving two yellow cards – the first of which was extremely harsh – which topped off a dismal showing from Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Mark Goldbridge made his thoughts about the referee very clear shortly after we were reduced to 10 men with a short message posted on X (formerly Twitter).
This ref…..neither of those are yellows. So sad how referees constantly make big games about them
— Mark Goldbridge (@markgoldbridge) February 4, 2024
There were a number of questionable decisions from Taylor – who hails from Wythenshawe, Manchester – but that’s not an excuse for our shocking performance.
Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker had an afternoon to forget and although we went in level at the break thanks to an own goal from Gabriel, we really didn’t look like scoring whatsoever.
The 3-1 defeat leaves us two points clear of Arsenal at the top of the league but Manchester City are five points behind and have two games in hand.
There’s still a long way to go but this result is a hard one to take.
We let ourselves down today, probably our worst performance of the season and we only have ourselves to blame. But, yet again a massive match involving Liverpool which could have a bearing on the outcome of where the title ends up is officiated by a Mancunian referee, who yet again made some very questionable decisions which in my opinion prevented Liverpool from gaining any momentum in the match.
Can’t agree more when it comes to match official Anthony Tailor, Konate dismissal aside,how about a late challenge/grab on Nunez by Saliba which led to a yellow card to the striker!!? So deplorable, indeed all went towards Anthony Tailor.
I don’t think we could have asked for anything out of that game, Arsenal were better. Although I do agree that those yellows were harsh, Konate looked off the pace from the start, and Virgil had a game to forget. It wasn’t a great performance (TBF) to be fair, but we need to get back on horse, 3 very winable games coming up, on paper anyway!! Mon Reds, YNWA !