{"id":22727,"date":"2026-02-08T23:22:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T23:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/08\/why-liverpools-dominik-szoboszlai-was-sent-off-in-manchester-citys-win-arne-slott-says-marc-gehi-should-have-seen-the-red\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T23:22:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T23:22:31","slug":"why-liverpools-dominik-szoboszlai-was-sent-off-in-manchester-citys-win-arne-slott-says-marc-gehi-should-have-seen-the-red","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/08\/why-liverpools-dominik-szoboszlai-was-sent-off-in-manchester-citys-win-arne-slott-says-marc-gehi-should-have-seen-the-red\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai was sent off in Manchester City’s win, Arne Slott says Marc Gehi should have seen the red"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Some described referee Craig Pawson as a killjoy. Some argued that match officials were simply following the law. Resonating on both sides of the heated debate was the universal feeling that no one had won, except perhaps Arsenal fans who were focused on goal difference.<\/p>\n
Manchester City’s frenetic 2-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield means Josep Guardiola’s side are back within six points of the top of the Premier League. The dramatic denouement was light years away from the error-filled first half and showed exactly why the North side are struggling to catch up with Mikel Arteta’s side.<\/div>\n
In truth, they both looked like pale imitations of the giants who have dominated the Premier League and won titles over the last decade.<\/div>\n
However, with 16 minutes remaining, a football match broke out after Dominik Szoboszlai’s relentless blow with his right boot and Gianluigi Donnarumma’s brilliant effort to break the deadlock.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, Man City were on a roll. In particular, their seniors, back-to-back winners, rose to the occasion. First, Bernardo Silva anticipated a knockdown from Erling Haaland and scored the equalizer.<\/div>\n
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Manchester City elated after snatching victory at Anfield <\/p>\n
And it was Haaland who overcame his demons in the 92nd minute, making a mistake from 12 yards in a come-from-behind win against Liverpool in November after Alisson Becker brought down Matheus Nunez inside the penalty area.<\/div>\n
The cathartic scene of celebration at a corner of Anfield Road depicted an outpouring of emotion for many who have witnessed heartbreaking defeats here over the past few years, where even coronavirus refused to allow them to take part in the match they won 4-1 in February 2021. <\/p>\n
It was the first time City had beaten Liverpool to a league double since 1937, but of course the drama didn’t end there. Donnarumma made a great one-handed save from Alexis Mac Allister’s deflected attack.<\/p>\n
With Alisson joining the attack up front, City made a breakthrough and Rayan Cherki tried his luck from inside his own half. His underpowered pea roller was like a starting gun for Haaland and Szoboszlai to fend off their pursuit. <\/p>\n
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Erling Haaland’s penalty proved the difference on Sunday <\/p>\n
The Norwegian’s pace was too fast for his former RB Salzburg teammate. When Szoboszlai pulled on his shirt in an attempt to steal the march, Haaland retaliated with an even more blatant tug. It was like watching two competitive brothers at a school sports day. <\/p>\n
Almost everyone could see the fun side of the two players locked in a fight as Cherki’s attack comically crossed the line. But neither Pawson nor his video assistant referee John Brooks did, as everyone was beginning to understand that technology was starting to have an impact.<\/p>\n
“After consideration,” a breathless Pawson explained to the stadium. “There was a careless foul by Erling Haaland and he pulled Dominik Szoboszlai’s shirt. <\/p>\n
“Before that, Szoboszlai committed a holding offense that denied an obvious scoring opportunity. The final decision was to award Manchester City a direct free kick and a red card (to Szoboszlai).”<\/p>\n
Haaland ran after the referee with open arms, calling for common sense. Shoboshlai had a rueful smile on his face, took off his shirt, and trudged down the tunnel.<\/p>\n
He later told Sky Sports that Haaland had the luxury of being more relaxed in his assessment of the incident, which had no effect on the overall result, but was unaware of Szoboszlai’s future suspension, which will only limit him to Wednesday’s trip to Sunderland, which was broadcast live on TNT Sport and Discovery Plus.<\/div>\n
“Of course the referee has to follow the rules,” said Haaland, who was finally waiting for his goal at Anfield. \u201cHowever, with this decision, Szoboszlai will receive a three-game suspension (only one game suspension), so I feel sorry for him. <\/p>\n
“I think you shouldn’t give a red card, you shouldn’t give a goal, you shouldn’t give a three-game suspension, but those are the rules. This is what it is. Rayan Cherki handed me the ball so I could score, but he didn’t want me to score. That’s the way it is.”<\/p>\n
Pep: Just give me a goal | Slot: Guehi should have seen red<\/h2>\n
Cherki was perhaps the most upset about the whole affair, but Pawson made sure the decision was not extremely controversial, as he played full-time immediately after play resumed.<\/p>\n
Guardiola expressed his full range of emotions on the touchline, recreating Donnarumma’s dive to deny Mac Allister, panicking over the decision to disallow Cherki’s strike, but ultimately grinning from ear to ear at finally winning for Liverpool in front of their fans.<\/p>\n
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Marc Guehi was booked only for a foul on Mohamed Salah<\/p>\n
Speaking on BBC’s Match of the Day, the Catalan joined calls for Pawson to have just scored in an incident that has put VAR back in the spotlight.<\/p>\n
“Referee, go ahead and give us a goal and go home,” Guardiola said in his succinct assessment of the incident. “Common sense, you know? I know he pulls him, but in this country, in this league, how many times during a game do you get pulled and the referee continues the game? Give the goal, 3-1, Szoboszlai can play, and we’re happy.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s Arne Slott was interested in moving the matter to an earlier altercation as the match was still scoreless.<\/p>\n
Marc Guehi was booked for tugging on Mohamed Salah’s shirt, but Pawson only brandished a yellow card, despite City’s centre-back appearing to be the last defender.<\/p>\n
When asked for his opinion on Szoboszlai’s red card in a post-match BBC interview, the Liverpool manager said: “That’s not something we should talk about. Maybe he should have left it alone for the goal, but if that’s the rule then we have to accept it.”<\/p>\n
“If there’s one incident to talk about, it’s when Mo Salah was one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Anyone who has been to this stadium in the last seven or eight years will know that it was Salah’s goal. Once again the referee decided it wasn’t in our favor. They have to do their job.”<\/p>\n
Speaking at a subsequent press conference, Slott added: “I accept the fact that the referee was following the rule book when Dominic fouled Haaland. It was a clear shirt tugging and a red card. I think the Sunderland manager (Regis Le Bris) is really happy that he gave the red card.” <\/p>\n
“If you go by the rulebook, you’re going to have your shirt pulled. Over eight years, Salah has scored that kind of goal almost 100 times out of 100, which is a bit of an exaggeration. But there’s no red card. That’s more of my frustration.”<\/p>\n
Silva: \u201cIf I had lost, the title fight would have been over\u201d<\/h2>\n
Liverpool have won just one of their last seven league games and are a whopping 17 points behind Arsenal, but the investigation into how Slott’s side surrendered control as they lost in stoppage time for the fourth time this season will continue until their next match, when they will be given the ominous task of becoming the first visiting Premier League team to win at the Stadium of Light this season.<\/p>\n
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Bernardo Silva was great as Man City fought back and won. <\/p>\n
I felt this was important for City. As always, Bernardo was their standout performer. <\/p>\n
The turnover in playing staff over the past 18 months reflects the fact that teams are in a period of transition, with many yet to taste silverware. Guardiola is building again, either for himself or to leave things to his successor.<\/p>\n
But in Bernardo, City still possessed one of the crown jewels of their current manager, and it was the Portuguese who pulled them off the canvas and breathed life into their title pursuits again.<\/p>\n
Bernardo admitted in an interview with Sky Sports that the aim is now or never to overtake Arsenal.<\/p>\n
“For me, coming to Anfield is the toughest place in the Premier League,” he said. “Normally a draw is not a bad result for most teams, but we needed to go for another goal. When we scored, we were happy because we got back in the game, but we needed another goal, and Erling scored it for us.”<\/p>\n
“This win is as important as the other three points, but it has been frustrating since the beginning of the year. In my opinion, we haven’t done our job properly and we could be closer to Arsenal.”<\/p>\n
“But I’m very happy today. So I’m really happy to be able to win here for the first time in nine seasons, excluding the year of the coronavirus pandemic, because you can imagine how difficult it is to win here.”<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we all knew before this game that if we had lost, the title race would probably have been over.Arsenal are still in a much better position than us, but we felt we had to win this game. <\/p>\n
“Now we are a little bit closer. We have hope and we will fight until the end, but six points is still six points. We have to keep doing our job and we haven’t been able to do that lately.”<\/p>\n
Watch the 2025\/26 Premier League season on TNT Sports and Discovery+<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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