Marco Verratti should have seen red for lunge on Joe Gomez but Liverpool defender saved Italian from early bath
- Marco Verratti was lucky to escape a red card after challenge on Joe Gomez
- His lunge was high and late but referee Szymon Marciniak showed a yellow card
- Marciniak was right to finally award Liverpool a penalty after hesitation
Paris Saint-Germain should have been reduced to 10 men in the first half after Marco Verratti’s foul on Joe Gomez.
The PSG midfielder went into the challenge at speed and, with studs showing, caught Gomez high on the leg but referee Szymon Marciniak only showed a yellow card. What saved Verratti was the Liverpool defender’s reaction.
Plenty of players would roll around to try to persuade the referee to show a red card, but Gomez did not over-react.
Marco Verratti somehow escaped a red card despite lunging in on Liverpool’s Joe Gomez
The Italian protests with the referee despite being lucky to only be given a yellow card
Gomez quickly got back to his feet after the poor challenge committed by Verratti
But Marciniak was correct to over-rule himself on the stroke of half-time and award Liverpool a penalty.
People say that the officials standing behind the goals do nothing but that was not the case on Wednesday night.
Referee Marciniak was correct to over-rule himself and award Liverpool a penalty on half-time
It was an excellent decision by the additional assistant to tell Marciniak to award a penalty.
The Polish referee is one of the best in Europe but clearly lost concentration when PSG’s Angel di Maria fouled Sadio Mane just inside the box.
Marciniak initially gave a Liverpool corner but was absolutely correct to change his mind.