Mike Dean felt that Liverpool were on the wrong end of a serious refereeing error in the first few minutes of their match against Fulham today.
Issa Diop was shown a yellow card for a dangerous lunge on Andy Robertson (who was later sent off for a last-man foul), but that was eclipsed by a disgusting challenge just a few minutes later.
Andreas Pereira caught Ryan Gravenberch on the back of the ankle as the Reds midfielder attempted to surge upfield, with the ex-Manchester United player booked by Tony Harrington, but subsequent replays showed that the Brazilian was very fortunate to escape with such a sanction.
Speaking on Sky Sports‘ Soccer Saturday, Dean was adamant that the Fulham man should’ve been sent off for his challenge on the Dutchman.
The ex-Premier League referee said (15:14): “Pereira caught Gravenberch on the top of his Achilles and scraped down. He’s nowhere near the ball. He knew what he was doing. It’s 100% a red card.”
Andreas Pereira is now booked for a Nasty Challenge on Ryan Gravenberch
YELLOW CARD pic.twitter.com/UdFnzCtalA
— Every Premier League Club (@EveryPremier) December 14, 2024
Dean is absoutely right – it was a cowardly tackle by Pereira, the sort of one which can inflict serious injury on a player, and thankfully Gravenberch wasn’t hurt by the Fulham midfielder.
To further test the blood pressure of Arne Slot and every Liverpool fan, the 28-year-old opened the scoring just a couple of minutes later, connecting with Antonee Robinson’s deep cross and dispatching it to the net off a slight deflection from the unlucky Robertson.
The goal could’ve been defended so much better by the Reds, whose performance in the first half-hour was woefully lethargic, but it’s maddening that the man who gave the Cottagers their early lead shouldn’t have even been on the pitch at the time of the goal.
To make things even worse for the home side, the Scotland captain’s dismissal comes at a time when Kostas Tsimikas is still out injured, leaving Slot without any senior left-back for the rest of this game and potentially the next three games.
Once again, a potentially thrilling Premier League fixture has been overshadowed by incompetence from officials who’ve ensured that they, and not the players, will be the talking point afterwards.
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