Mike Dean believed that Liverpool suffered from a significant refereeing mistake early in their match against Fulham today.
Issa Diop was given a yellow card for a dangerous challenge on Andy Robertson (who was later sent off for a last-man foul), but this was overshadowed by an even more troubling tackle just minutes later.
Andreas Pereira caught Ryan Gravenberch on the back of the ankle as the Liverpool midfielder tried to push forward. Pereira was booked by Tony Harrington, but replays revealed that the Brazilian was fortunate to receive such a light punishment.
Dean: Pereira should have been sent off
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday, Dean was adamant that Pereira should have been sent off for the challenge on Gravenberch.
The former Premier League referee said: “Pereira caught Gravenberch on the top of his Achilles and scraped down. He’s nowhere near the ball. He knew exactly what he was doing. It’s 100% a red card.”
Dean’s frustration was justified, as Pereira’s tackle was reckless and could have caused serious injury, but fortunately, Gravenberch wasn’t hurt.
To make matters worse for Liverpool, just minutes later, Pereira scored the opening goal, meeting a cross from Antonee Robinson and sending it into the net off a slight deflection from the unfortunate Robertson.
The goal could have been defended much better by Liverpool, who were sluggish in the first 30 minutes, but it’s incredibly frustrating that the player who gave Fulham the early lead shouldn’t have even been on the field at that time.
To add to Liverpool’s misery, Robertson’s red card came at a time when Kostas Tsimikas was still sidelined, leaving manager Arne Slot without a senior left-back for the remainder of this match and potentially the next three games.
Once again, a potentially exciting Premier League match was marred by referee errors, ensuring that the officials, not the players, would be the main topic of discussion afterward.
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