Ref Watch: Liverpool's Konate should have seen red, says former PL official
Former referee Dermot Gallagher dissects the flashpoints from the latest round of the 2023/24 Premier League season including handball decisions, tight VAR calls and fortune favouring the red side of Merseyside...
INCIDENT: Frustrated defender Jarrad Branthwaite bemoaned inconsistency in Premier League refereeing after claiming Everton were denied "a level playing field" in the Merseyside derby defeat at Anfield.
Ashley Young was sent off for two separate fouls on Luis Diaz in the first half but Everton were furious when Reds defender Ibrahima Konate, already on a yellow card for a foul on Amadou Onana, was not punished a second time for holding back Beto after the break.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk admitted they got lucky that referee Craig Pawson did not show a second yellow card to the Frenchman, who was immediately substituted by Jurgen Klopp, but with the score still goalless Branthwaite felt it could have given them a better chance of avoiding the 2-0 defeat.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Konate should have been sent off.
DERMOT SAYS: "Very lucky. There's a few things - it's so cynical [on Beto], he doesn't make any attempt to play the ball
"Craig's [Pawson] argument might be that he wasn't going to get the ball, but Konate knew what he was doing.
"What summed it up was a minute later when they subbed him and that tells you the story."
What is the difference between Manuel Akanji being shown a yellow and sent off for Manchester City against Brighton and Konate not?
"Consistency is individual. Rob Jones is consistent, he yellow carded him [Akanji] early, quite rightly, and does so here.
"We've all agreed that Konate's should have been a second yellow card.
"You would hope not [the referee feeling the pressure of the game at
Read on m.allfootballapp.com
