Luis Diaz: 24-yr-old should get extended ban as controversial Liverpool footage analysed – Agbonlahor
Robert Sanchez should have been sent off for his challenge on Luis Diaz as Liverpool beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 last weekend (12 March), according to Gabby Agbonlahor.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Aston Villa and England attacker insisted Sanchez’s challenge was “clumsy” and Liverpool scoring from the incident was not enough punishment.
Diaz was played in behind the Brighton defence by Joel Matip and headed past the Brighton keeper before being taken out by a trailing leg.
After a VAR check, the 24-year-old went unpunished and was not even shown a yellow card.
A sending off would have seen him banned for Brighton’s 2-0 loss to Tottenham earlier this week (16 March) as well as the upcoming fixtures against Norwich City and Arsenal.
Asked for his verdict on the controversy, Agbonlahor said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley: “For me, it’s definitely a sending off.
“If that tackle is made anywhere else on the pitch, it’s a red card. Because it’s a goalkeeper I feel like he got away with one.
“It was an incident where, because they scored, the referee and VAR probably felt that was enough punishment. They probably thought ‘He’s scored a goal let’s not overkill with the punishment’.
“In reality, a red card would have been fair because it was a very clumsy tackle from the goalkeeper. Your leg should not be that high.”
As quoted by Sky Sports after the game, Jurgen Klopp insisted the incident highlighted a clear issue with VAR.
He claimed the phrase ‘clear and obvious error’ is the “real problem”, instead it should be ‘right or wrong’.
In other news, Liverpool may be set for an unfair advantage after a Premier League development in the last 24 hours.