‘What are you supposed to do? He gets the ball’: Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher both insist that Alexis Sanchez should NOT have been shown a second yellow against Liverpool, with red card killing Inter Milan’s comeback
- Alexis Sanchez was sent off as Inter Milan crashed out of the Champions League
- He was shown a second yellow just after Lautaro Martinez scored for Inter
- Liverpool lost the game but won the tie over two legs with a 2-1 scoreline
- TV pundits have agreed that Sanchez was unlucky to be sent off for Inter
CBS and BT Sport pundits have collectively agreed that Alexis Sanchez should not have been shown a second yellow as Inter Milan crashed out of the Champions League to Liverpool.
Sanchez, who had been shown a yellow in the first-half for a reckless challenge on Thiago, was shown another just one minute after Lautaro Martinez scored to give Inter hope of a comeback.
The 33-year-old won the ball but on the follow-through caught midfielder Fabinho and was shown his marching orders.
Alexis Sanchez was sent off just a minute after Inter had pulled the tie back to 2-1
After the game, CBS Sport pundits Thierry Henry, Peter Schmeichel and Jamie Carrgher all agreed that Sanchez was unfortunate.
Henry said: ‘I’m sorry if you’ve played football and I think sometimes the referee just goes by the book.
‘What are you supposed to do? He gets the ball, your foot is going to go up because you’re kicking the ball away.
His first yellow came for a reckless challenge on Thiago during the first-half of the game
He was then shown a second yellow for a challenge on Fabinho – which pundits felt was harsh
‘We see on the replay full speed you don’t have time to take the ball away by kicking the ball. If he (the referee) plays football that’s not a yellow.’
Peter Schmeichel explaining Henry’s point went on to say: ‘You go forward with your leg and at speed, there’s no way you can pull the leg out. Sanchez wins the ball that’s enough.’
Carragher added: ‘Sometimes a foul or situation like that where I probably have less sympathy was if Alexis won the ball with his studs.
‘He doesn’t win the ball with his studs, he wins it with his foot which has to go somewhere.
‘It’s not even that high it’s on the ankle or the boot. It’s probably just a foul and that’s debateable.
‘The fact he went into his boot it’s nowhere near a yellow card but you could argue the two fouls put together is a red card maybe.’
Henry added the first foul was a debatable red while Carragher said it was ‘more than a yellow’.
They weren’t the only ones to disagree with the decision as BT Sports pundits also disagreed with the decision.
Fara Williams, England’s record women’s goalscorer said: ‘I’m not having it, I’m just like, it frustrates me football nowadays.
Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher and Peter Schmeichel all disagreed with the decision on CBS
Over on BT, Fara Williams (centre) and Rio Ferdinand also believed it wasn’t a second yellow
‘You can see his clear intention he’s tried to poke the ball on to Martinez. His foot is on the floor and there’s no way to slow his momentum when he gets the poke. What you can clearly see is he’s trying to pull his leg out. I think a foul, but it ruins the game.
Rio Ferdinand added: ‘I completely agree. Look at how low his leg is, he’s bringing his leg away.
‘In slow motion it makes it look worse than it is but when you see it in real time he’s going to win the ball. First and foremost he’s stupid for giving the referee a chance to make a decision. But I don’t think it’s a yellow card.’
He added further: ‘It feels to me we’ve said it the reaction of the referee is about a person who’s not played the game or understands the actions of a footballer at that point. I know sometimes referees take that personally but that’s genuinely how I feel’
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