Manchester United legend Gary Neville was not happy after Curtis Jones was sent off by VAR during Liverpool’s clash at Tottenham on Saturday evening.
Just 24 minutes into the match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Jones was booked for a bad foul on Yves Bissouma.
Many at the ground winced when the challenge was made given how the Liverpool midfielder’s studs went into the Spurs star’s shin and soon the Video Assistant Referee was called.
Referee Simon Hooper checked the incident on the pitch-side monitor before cancelling the yellow card and showing Jones a straight red, much to the annoyance of the player and his manager Jurgen Klopp.
Though some agreed with Hooper’s decision, Neville wasn’t convinced, saying on Sky Sports: ‘A yellow is right.
‘I know when you’re doing someone, I’ve done it myself. He wasn’t there to do someone.
‘He is over the top, the ball is moving and it is certainly not a red, it looks worse than it actually is. His foot slips, it is not a red for me and this will ruin the game.
‘I maybe wrong, but I just do not know any more. In slow motion, you will come to the conclusion it is a red card. I do not think he has gone over the top to do him.’
Neville’s Sky colleagues agreed, with former Liverpool and Tottenham star Jamie Redknapp adding: ‘I think the red card is extremely harsh.
‘Every time you go into a tackle like this you are risking going over the top of the ball. Once he doesn’t get it right it doesn’t look good but he doesn’t mean to hurt him and yellow card would suffice.’
Ex-Spurs player Andros Townsend concurred: ‘Letter of the law, the force it has to be a red card.
‘But he does get enough of the ball and for me, and for a lot of players – football is a contact game, as soon as you get the ball, the rest is history.’
MORE : ‘It will change everything!’ – Mikel Arteta reacts to Kai Havertz scoring his first Arsenal goal
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
