Howard Webb claims sparks Liverpool fan challenge as ex-referee sends blunt demand
Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has responded to PGMOL chief Howard Webb following his comments on the big incident in Arsenal's win over Manchester City.
Webb claimed that Michael Oliver didn't want to have a negative impact on the game by "overreacting" during Arsenal's 1-0 victory at the weekend.
The defeat for Pep Guardiola's side was overshadowed by the decision not to send off midfielder Mateo Kovacic for a rash tackle on Martin Odegaard. Minutes later, the Croatian lunged in on another Arsenal midfielder, Declan Rice, but escaped punishment in the form of a second yellow card.
Speaking on the Mic'd Up Show with Michael Owen last night, Webb argued: "We want to be as consistent as we can be throughout every game among our group.
Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones shocks clear as Liverpool truth starts to emerge
Danny Murphy sends blunt Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo message to Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp
"(We're) dealing with the same situations each week but all situations vary slightly, we understand this, this is clearly a poor tackle (from Kovacic) and I'm confident if a red card had been given by Michael Oliver on the day it would've been a very straight forward 'check complete'.
"But he issued a yellow card. I think there's a few differences (between this and Malo Gusto's red card for Chelsea versus Aston Villa), Kovacic comes into the tackle, there's weight on the left leg as he lunges in. The right heel hits the ground and the contact is on the side with an upright foot opposed to a sidefoot (tackle) that we seen from Gusto. A few small differences that lead the VAR to feel that the onfield decision here of yellow card wasn't clearly and obviously incorrect. Therefore 'check completing it' would've
Read on liverpoolecho.co.uk
