It seems the only consistent thing about refereeing at the highest level in English football is inconsistency.
That’s how Liverpool fans must feel this afternoon after witnessing a shocking Malo Gusto challenge in today’s Premier League clash between Chelsea and Fulham.
The Blues defender dived high on Willian, failing to make contact with the ball and catching the Brazilian winger above the ankle with studs visible. The offense received a yellow card from Anthony Taylor and a subsequent VAR review ruled in favor of the on-field decision.
Should Malo Gusto have received a red card for this challenge on Willian? 🤔
He got away with only a yellow 👀 pic.twitter.com/Uv17dDxzdr
– Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 13, 2024
Now let’s compare that tackle to the one that saw Curtis Jones sent off during Liverpool’s highly controversial 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in September.
The Reds midfielder caught Yves Bissouma in the shin, and Simon Hooper upgraded his initial yellow card to red after consulting the VAR monitor, despite the perpetrator’s studs sliding over the ball and then making contact with the player of the Spurs.
“To begin with, it’s still wrong. This is also where the VAR is wrong”
Ref Watch panel analyzes Curtis Jones’ red card against Tottenham 🟥 pic.twitter.com/qNWfFyYsDp
– Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 2, 2023
That wasn’t the only harsh red card a Liverpool player received this season either. Think back to our first home game of the campaign against Bournemouth in August, when Alexis Mac Allister was shown the red card for a foul on Ryan Christie.
The Argentinian wasn’t even showing his studs when he hit the Cherries player, so Thomas Bramall seeing fit to send him off was baffling, to the point that the decision was overturned on appeal by the Reds, with the former Brighton midfielder not having to serve a suspension.
Even with three different referees on the field responsible for the decisions cited above, it is incomprehensible how the fouls committed by Jones and Mac Allister could be considered worthy of a harsher punishment than Gusto’s on Willian today.
It becomes even more inexcusable in this era of VAR, which was supposed to help eradicate refereeing errors from football but has only served to cause a stir on a weekly basis since its introduction.
To think that the Chelsea player’s over-the-top tackle on Willian received the same penalty as Harvey Elliott momentarily objecting to a decision in last week’s FA Cup win over Arsenal really boggles the mind.
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