Alan Shearer has said on Match of the Day 2 on BBC One (10:50pm, January 3, 2022) that Liverpool forward Sadio Mane should have been sent off against Chelsea for the incident involving Cesar Azpilicueta.
Liverpool played out a 2-2 draw with Chelsea away from home at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Sunday.
Mane scored one of the goals for the Reds.
However, there are strong suggestions that the £34 million (BBC Sport) Senegal international forward should have been sent off in the very first minute.
After just six seconds, Chelsea defender Azpilicueta was caught with a leading arm by the Senegalese.
Mane was shown only a yellow card.
Sadio Mane v Cesar Azpilicueta incident
Newcastle United legend and MOTD pundit Shearer believes that the 29-year-old forward should have been shown a red card.
Shearer said on MOTD2: “Yeah, red, all day, every day should be. I don’t care whether that’s after six seconds, six minutes or 60 minutes, that’s a red card.
“Don’t give me the rubbish that his eyes are on the ball. That doesn’t make any difference whatsoever.”
Fortunate
In our view, Mane was fortunate not to be shown a red card for the incident.
We think that the Senegal international forward should have been dismissed.
Mane clearly caught Azpilicueta in the face.
Now, was the referee lenient because it was after just six seconds?
Probably.
It could have been a wholly different game had Liverpool gone down to 10 men after just one minute.
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