Diogo Dalot's red card vs Liverpool explained after confusing late incident

17 December 2023 , 22:18

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Diogo Dalot's red card vs Liverpool explained after confusing late incident

Diogo Dalot was sent off during Manchester United's goalless draw against Liverpool because of dissent.

The 24-year-old was shown two yellow cards within the space of two seconds in the 94th minute at Anfield after Dalot could not believe that Liverpool were awarded a throw-in. He felt United should have got the decision their way, with the right-back throwing his arms up in the air in frustration.

Replays showed that Dalot was justified in his complaints, as the ball appeared to come off Mohamed Salah last. Dalot was booked for his reaction, before receiving a second yellow card shortly after by Michael Oliver for continuing to express his annoyance.

Dalot's dismissal didn't affect the outcome as United held to secure a 0-0 draw. Delivering his opinion on the incident, Gary Neville told Sky Sports: "That first shout, yes, it's a booking fair enough. It all feels like it's the same thing to me, Michael Oliver has created something there that he doesn’t need to.

"The first booking is absolutely fine, it's an aggressive reaction and he should be booked for that but it's all the same motion. He’s been sent off… I've never seen that before but it is what it is."

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Jamie Carragher agreed with Neville and believes Oliver could have handled the incident differently. "For me, Michael Oliver is the best referee in the Premier League but it’s a strange one, he could have handled it differently," Carragher said. "I think just go over to him, have a stern word with him, I don’t think he needed to do that."

Did Diogo Dalot deserve to be sent off? Let us know in the comments below!

Diogo Dalot was sent off for two dissent offences as Liverpool were held to a goalless draw by Man Utd (AP)

During co-commentary for Sky Sports, Mike Dean brutally trolled Neville when the ex-United right-back asked about why Dalot had been shown a red card. Neville asked: "Dissent twice, what does that mean?" Dean replied: "It means he’s done it twice, Gary."

Explaining why Dalot was sent off, Dean added: "Obviously he is annoyed by the throw-in. For me, it has gone the wrong way and it should be Manchester United's throw-in. He has obviously had a go at the referee with his actions and then said something to the referee after the yellow card."

Erik ten Hag refused to comment on Dalot's red card, though he did praise United's defensive performance. "There were a lot of [positive] aspects, absolutely," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. I think the performance was very good from our side. The game-plan went well, the players were brilliant how they stuck together and were in the fight."

United boss Ten Hag was left a little frustrated about how his side performed in possession, however. "My only criticism would be in possession we could hurt them more, if you get one, two, three passes in," he said. "But that's the only thing. If we scored one of the big opportunities we could have won this game."

Kieran King