Fabinho’s tackle for Liverpool vs Wolves has completely divided football fans
Fabinho #Fabinho
Fabinho’s tackle during Liverpool vs Wolves has completely divided the opinion of football fans.
Liverpool won the match 2-0 with goals from Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah. The victory kept their hopes of finishing in the Premier League’s top four alive as they moved to within six points of fourth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand.
Jurgen Klopp’s side face Manchester United on Sunday in a huge clash that could determine their season.
And it’s a match that Fabinho could well have been suspended for.
The Brazilian was booked in the 53rd minute following a 50/50 tackle with Wolves’ Mario Lemina.
Lemina allowed the ball to get away from him before launching into a strong tackle on Fabinho. The two players ended up on the turf while both teams appealed for a free-kick.
Referee Paul Tierney waited several seconds before giving the free kick to Wolves, much to the fury of Anfield.
He then showed Fabinho a yellow card.
It was then only on the replay that you realised why.
While it was Lemina who lunged in, Fabinho put his foot over the ball and his studs caught his opponent high on the leg. When slowed down, he could easily have been shown a red card.
However, in defence of Fabinho, where else was he supposed to plant his foot? And he didn’t put his foot down with force which would surely have resulted in a red card.
As you can tell, we’re pretty undecided on the decision ourselves. And that’s certainly the case amongst football fans on social media:
Some believe Fabinho was incredibly lucky to avoid a red card. Some feel that a yellow was a fair decision. While others can’t quite believe Liverpool weren’t awarded a free kick themselves for Lemina’s challenge.
Check out the differing opinions:
Meanwhile, Sky Sports are also questioning whether Fabinho should have been shown a red card…
So, what decision would you have made?
Klopp was satisfied with his side’s performance against Wolves and was pleased with their response to seeing Darwin Nunez’s goal being disallowed with the scores at 0-0.
“I thought the whole story of the game is an important one for us to take. I think we did a lot of good stuff in the first half, played the way we had to play,” Klopp said.
“We didn’t create that many clear-cut chances, the best one was probably the header from Harvey Elliott which he missed.
“Second half, around the disallowed goal already we increased the pressure and these kind of things.
“I think you all saw the (disallowed) goal now a couple of times back and when you see it in slow-motion you see the contact then, but I still think it was a goal – but that’s not important anymore.
“The players don’t have a replay and for them it’s a clear goal of course. Then you have to react.
“I was not worried but of course then you watch it, how the boys react – and the reaction was really good.
“Then you force the goal and then the second goal was exceptional play – a really good counter-attack, each pass was perfect.
“Then we controlled it again. So, it was a good performance from us and a really important one. And of course again a clean sheet, which is extremely helpful. These are all positives for us, all good.”