Joey Barton has delivered his Twitter verdict on Andy Robertson’s red card for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Liverpool defender, an £8 million signing in 2017, was sent off on 77 minutes for a reckless challenge on Spurs’ Emerson Royal.
Referee Paul Tierney consulted the pitchside monitor before deciding to dismiss the Scotland international.
But former Newcastle United and Manchester City midfielder Barton isn’t convinced that it was worthy of a red card.
Inconsistency
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted after the game that it was ‘not the smartest’ thing for his defender – who fired the Reds into a 2-1 lead – to do.
But there’s no denying that Tierney had a very inconsistent performance.
That’s because in the first half, Tottenham’s Harry Kane only earned a caution for a challenge which was arguably much worse.
Emerson couldn’t have suffered a broken bone with Robertson’s challenge.
But the latter could – and would – have been seriously injured had his foot been planted when Kane’s studs connected with him.
On the balance of play, a 2-2 draw was probably the fair result.
But Liverpool go into Christmas three points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City and Klopp’s bitterness is, well, probabaly justified.
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