‘Absolutely horrendous’ – Stephen Warnock appalled by what he saw star do in Liverpool vs Real Madrid
Arne Slot will have been absolutely furious after watching one player attempt to win a penalty during Liverpool’s narrow win over Real Madrid.
Alexander Isak was absent due to injury, joining the likes of Alisson and Jeremie Frimpong on the medical table, but the Reds still managed to field a strong starting lineup against the La Liga giants.
Dominik Szoboszlai has been a crucial player for Liverpool, and he came closest to opening the scoring at Anfield on Tuesday, 4 November, but Los Blancos also had chances in the Champions League clash.
Vinicius Junior was the obvious danger man for the visitors, but after picking up an early yellow card, the Brazilian might have counted himself fortunate to still be on the pitch before the half-time whistle.
Vinicius Junior slammed for diving at Anfield
In the 40th minute, Vinicius threw himself to the ground inside the penalty area, struggling to get past Conor Bradley, and while there was a hand in his face, there was absolutely no sympathy for the attacker.
Speaking live on BBC Radio 5 Live (4 November, 8:41pm), Stephen Warnock said: “That is absolutely horrendous what Vinicius Junior has just done. That is shocking what has just happened there.“
The Real Madrid star often picks up yellow cards for incidents other than mistimed tackles, diving or dissent, and on this occasion, it was the former after going down under Bradley’s pressure.
Much of Anfield made their feelings known about the incident, and despite having a clear view of the situation, referee Istvan Kovacs refrained from sending the player off.
Conor Bradley keeps Real Madrid star quiet against Liverpool
As shown by the graphic from Football Insider‘s partnership with Opta, Bradley was an absolute menace down the right flank, causing plenty of issues for the Spanish side.
Not only was he defensively solid, but the Northern Ireland international also forced Vinicius back into his own half due to Alvaro Carreras struggling to deal with Slot’s stars.
The focus heading into the Anfield showdown was how Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s return would be received by the fans, but the current right-back raised his game to keep all eyes on him.