Ex-Premier League referee: Fernandinho deserves ban as controversial Liverpool footage emerges
Fernandinho should have been sent off as Man City lost 3-2 to Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday (16 April), according to Keith Hackett.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa and Premier League referee insisted Fernandinho, 36, was guilty of two yellow card offences.
As shown in the match replay on BBC iPlayer, the midfielder was fortunate to avoid a caution midway through the first half when he tripped up Luis Diaz.
He eventually found himself in Michael Oliver’s book just over 10 minutes into the second half for a crunching tackle on Sadio Mane.
A red card would have seen the Man City captain banned for their game with Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday (20 April).
“It was an easy-going performance by Oliver,” Hackett told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“The players, generally, behaved themselves really well and that’s credit to both managers. It’s quite refreshing in one of the big games of the year focusing on football and not brutality. That was really good. Tactically it was sound.
“The referee did quite well but he was too lenient on Fernandinho. If you give him the first yellow you’ve really got to give him the second one. There was only that recently.
“Oliver is a mature referee, he moves around the pitch well and fulfils what you expect from a top-class referee. You want more of them in the game.
“He’s developed a maturity but he’s got to be careful now because he’ll be refereeing these teams for the next 10 or 15 years and he’s still got a job to do.
“Fernandinho was very lucky, it’s the only thing you can pick him up on from the game.”
In other news, there has been a ‘huge’ FSG update on Sadio Mane’s Liverpool future.