Why Liverpool’s Case Against That Red Card Still Stands
Three goals down to a Manchester City side flying at Anfield is painful enough on its own. Losing Ryan Gravenberch to two yellow cards inside an hour made it feel like the game had been decided by someone other than the players on the pitch, and in our view that frustration is entirely justified.
Gravenberch’s night ended for a late challenge on Elliot Anderson followed by a tug on Jeremy Doku’s shirt, a pair of incidents that individually look routine but combined to end Liverpool’s afternoon with a man light and City suddenly in total control. Within six minutes of the sending-off, the scoreline had moved from competitive to one-sided.
Pundits rarely agree this quickly
What stood out afterwards was how little daylight there was between Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville, two men who spend most weekends disagreeing about something. Both felt Liverpool had been harshly treated, and when that sort of consensus forms this quickly among people who analyse decisions for a living, it tends to mean something.
According to The Express, Carragher argued that neither of the two cautions stood up well under scrutiny, telling Sky Sports that the first challenge in particular was soft and that the referee reached for his pocket too quickly. Neville’s response was blunter still, calling the decision very, very soft. Coming from two pundits with little history of letting Liverpool off easily, that is a notable thing to hear.
The scoreline hides the better moments
It would be easy to look at a 3-0 scoreline and assume Liverpool never threatened, but that is not the full picture. Gianluigi Donnarumma was called into a smart save before the red card arrived, and both Lewis Koumas and Alexis Mac Allister had chances of their own. None of that guarantees a different result with eleven players on the pitch, but it does explain why what followed felt abrupt rather than inevitable.
Andoni Iraola was already preparing to bring on Trey Nyoni to shore up the midfield gap left behind, only for Erling Haaland to open the scoring before that change could be made. City doubled their lead through Jeremy Doku soon after, turning a one-man disadvantage into a two-goal deficit inside the same passage of play.
A third goal that deserved its own headline
City’s third, finished by Rayan Cherki after a move involving the whole side, including a deft touch from Josko Gvardiol and a piece of skill from Cherki himself to beat Jeremie Frimpong before scoring past Alisson, was arguably the best passage of the entire match. Carragher was generous in his praise for it, while also pointing out where Frimpong could have done better.
Taken together, the picture is messier than the final score suggests. Liverpool can point to a refereeing decision that two respected former players did not buy into, while also needing to reckon with how quickly City turned the moment to their advantage once it was given. Both things can be true at once, and on this occasion, we think they are.