(Video) Amadou Onana escapes red card after grabbing Alexis Mac Allister by the neck
Saturday night couldn’t have gone much better for Liverpool — a win, a clean sheet, and a dominant display.
Mohamed Salah’s 250th goal for the club and a second-half finish from Ryan Gravenberch sealed the Premier League champions’ first domestic victory in six weeks, lifting them to third place overnight and giving Reds fans a well-earned, peaceful night’s rest.
However, if Arne Slot had one grievance about the evening, it would concern an incident that should have seen Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana sent off.
Onana’s clash with Mac Allister
In the 73rd minute, as Villa prepared to take a corner, tensions flared in the Liverpool box. Amid the pushing and shoving, referee Stuart Attwell stepped in to calm things down.
Replays from behind Giorgi Mamardashvili’s goal showed Onana grabbing Alexis Mac Allister by the neck, sending the Argentine to the ground.
The Villa midfielder was shown a yellow card, though many felt VAR should have stepped in to suggest a harsher punishment for the former Everton player.
Onana escapes dismissal
No one wants to see unfair red cards, but Onana could have had few arguments if Attwell had decided to send him off. Any contact above the shoulders is risky territory, regardless of how minor it seems. Mac Allister may have exaggerated the fall, but he was justified in feeling aggrieved that his opponent stayed on the pitch.
The inconsistency became even more puzzling minutes later when both Dominik Szoboszlai and Unai Emery received yellow cards for a relatively harmless disagreement near the Villa dugout — the same punishment as Onana’s neck grab.
Fortunately, the incident didn’t affect the outcome. Anfield was filled with relief and satisfaction at full-time after a thoroughly deserved win for the Reds.
