Dermot Gallagher believes one player was ‘really lucky’ with the referee’s decision in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Wexwich on Saturday.
Wes Burns was in the scoring position during a scoreless first half. I already got a yellow card He disrupted a Reds attack by arguing with Diogo Jota for possession of the ball, then went to the ground and swatted the ball away with his arm as play continued.
Arnold and the LFC coaching staff shouted at Tim Robinson to be booked again for what they believed was a deliberate handball, but the 29-year-old avoided further punishment.
Follow Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) on Instagram here
Talk about ~ Sky Sports‘ Ref Watch On Monday, Gallagher was grateful that Wexwich was not sent off for the incident.
A former top official said: “I think it was a handball. He was very lucky. He hit the ball very clear. He was also lucky that he failed to stop a promising attack as another Ipswich player came up to him. The covering player prevented him from getting a yellow card.”
READ MORE: Report shares Everton insiders’ view on Jarrad Branthwaite amid Liverpool raid offer
See more: (VIDEO) Liverpool fans will love the stylish Wataru Endo gesture he made to two of his team-mates on Saturday.
Slot was pictured asking fourth official Keith Stroud several questions as the team headed to the changing rooms at half-time, possibly in relation to the Burns incident.
TNT Sports pundit Peter Crouch also claimed the ifswitch forward would certainly have been booked in that situation if he had not already been shown a yellow card – a scenario that can often influence referees’ minds.
We don’t like to see players being sent off harshly for a minor second booking, but what happened at Portman Road over 40 minutes didn’t fall into that category.
There was no intention of interfering with the steering, Burns knew what he was doing by hitting the ball with his arm, and it was just lucky he didn’t try to give Robinson an early bath.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a problem overall as Liverpool eventually won comfortably, but if it had been a draw or a one-goal win at home, Slots would have had legitimate cause to complain later.
Close-up with EOTK John Welsh: ‘Local lad living his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions
