Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes Alexis McAllister’s red card should be rescinded, arguing his side have been “enough punished” for being sent off.
The 24-year-old Argentine midfielder, who joined on a £35m summer transfer from Brighton, was sent off after 58 minutes into the game. 3-1 win over Bournemouth.
McAllister faces a three-match ban after slashing Ryan Christie’s foot and receiving a red card.
“It’s cruel, that shouldn’t be a red card,” said Klopp.
“It’s a mistake and the punishment for playing 40 minutes with 10 men is already punishment enough. We have to talk to the authorities.
“There was contact but there is contact in the game all the time. If he gives a yellow card, no one will say, ‘By the way you need to take another look at that.'”
“The number of times I’ve already been asked about it shows that it’s worth discussing again, which we will probably do.
“I asked Maka and he said, ‘He touched it, but not really. If we have a list of points that you need to give a red card, then in addition to contact, then another box is not ticked.'”
Bournemouth took the lead through Antoine Cimeno in the third minute. Liverpool equalized with a goal by Luis Diaz in the 27th minute, then moved forward when Mohamed Salah fell in the 9th minute, after he saved the penalty kick.
It was 2-1 at the time of McAllister’s red card, although Diogo Jota added a third for the Reds four minutes later as Liverpool extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 13 matches.
Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, on social media, described the dismissal as “nonsense” and said that “the referee and the VAR system are having a bad day”.
Paul Tierney was the VAR and the dismissal was the second controversial decision of the match.
Liverpool were awarded a penalty in the first half when Dominic Zuboszlai was knocked to the ground despite minimal contact from Joe Rothwell, although the Bournemouth midfielder had his leg outstretched when the Hungarian went down.
Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola, who described the dismissal as “more like an orange”, rather than a red one, was also dissatisfied with the referees for the penalty kick, which led to Liverpool’s second goal as Salah scored the rebound after Neto saved the penalty kick.
“I think it’s very soft,” said the Spaniard. “Once the referee blows the whistle, I didn’t think the VAR would change it, but at the moment it was very important to us. The penalty should be something that affects the game.”
Former England striker Dion Dublin felt the officials had made key decisions wrong.
On the red card, Dublin said, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live: “It’s not red for me. Reduce it to a shade of yellow.”
“It’s high footed, there’s no malice there. McAllister tried to tackle with his side feet, not with a straight leg. They both had high footing, they both had the ball, yellow for me.”
If McAllister’s red card is upheld, he will miss Premier League matches away at Newcastle on August 27, home to Aston Villa on September 3 and away at Wolverhampton on September 16.
