Tim Sherwood was left stunned that Brighton star Diego Gomez was not shown a red card in their Premier League defeat at Liverpool on Saturday.
Gomez somehow avoided being sent off for a horror challenge on Florian Wirtz just before half-time and was only booked following a VAR check, with Liverpool winning the game 2-0 thanks to a brace from Hugo Ekitike.
‘The referee’s call of yellow card to Gomez was checked and confirmed by VAR,’ Premier League Match Centre posted on X.
‘The challenge on Wirtz [was] deemed not to be with excessive force and not serious foul play.’
Football pundit Sherwood, watching the game at Anfield for Sky Sports, said: ‘I think it’s a red card. I honestly do. Wirtz wins it before him.
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‘[Gomez is] not even there to go and win the ball. He’s trying to make out he’s tried to win the ball.
‘His foot is in his chest, he’s studded him down, dragging [his boot] down into his abdominal region. For me that is a red card.’
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean added: ‘His foot should’t be that high.
‘He’s caught him in the stomach. For me, it’s more red than yellow.’
A second football pundit, Chris Sutton, said that the challenge on Wirtz was ‘high and dangerous’.
‘The challenge on Wirtz is a really poor one from Gomez,’ the former Premier League striker said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
‘It’s really high and catches Wirtz in the stomach. So high and dangerous. Another day, he could’ve seen red.’
Liverpool were leading 1-0 when the incident occurred after Ekitike scored with just one minute on the clock.
Ekitike doubled Liverpool’s lead on the hour mark as Mohamed Salah provided the assist after his return to the matchday squad following his recent fallout with Arne Slot.
Salah was named on the bench against Brighton but came on in the 26th minute when Joe Gomez was forced off with injury.
There were massive cheers when Salah was introduced despite his controversial interview last week after the draw with Leeds United.
‘Someone wants me to get all the blame,’ Salah said after that match. ‘The club promised me a lot in summer. Now I’m on the bench so I can say they haven’t kept those promises.
‘I used to have a good relationship [with manager Slot]. Now we don’t have any relationship and I don’t know why.’
