Graeme Souness has told Sky Sports after Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Manchester United that Naby Keita was lucky not to be sent off for a stamp on Jesse Lingard – in an otherwise perfect night for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
A brace from Mo Salah – his first goals from open play since the middle of February – and one each for Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane, saw Liverpool ease to a 4-0 win and a 9-0 aggregate over Manchester United. It was too easy.
Diaz opened the scoring after a neat pass from Salah, before Mane’s chip was tucked home – Dietmar Hamann impressed. The third came when Diaz squared to Mane, and then Salah got his fourth via a deflection.
But during the second half, Keita came on to the field and after a loose touch and a tackle from Lingard – Keita seemed to stamp on the England star. Replays showed it was a nasty one, and Souness thinks it was a red.
“It’s a red card all day, Keita has got very lucky, Liverpool have got very lucky, it is a sending off. But it wouldn’t have affected the scoreline. He gets away with that,” Souness told Sky Sports. Keita received a yellow card.
Souness on Keita: Liverpool star should get post-match punishment
Liverpool were excellent. Dominant, attractive, everything the fans wanted to see when they bought a ticket to Anfield to watch their team against Manchester United. The Reds were near-perfect, United were abysmal.
But one blot on the night was Keita’s tackle on Lingard. It was a leg-breaker and one that he really did not need to do. Why VAR did not intervene and send Keita off is a strange one – perhaps feeling a yellow was punishment.
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