Kevin Phillips thinks Liverpool starlet Tyler Morton should have been sent off in their penalty shoot-out victory over Leicester City in the Carabao Cup.
The Foxes twice conceded a two-goal lead in the midweek Carabao Cup quarter-final against Liverpool – including an equaliser deep into added time – and then lost on spot-kicks.
To make things worse they Caglar Soyuncu and Ricardo Pereira to injury with the latter fracturing his fibula from Morton’s wild challenge.
Prem clubs are moaning but tough sh*t – play the reserves
Following the match, Pereira – who will miss six to eight weeks – admitted on social media that he felt he was “lucky” not to be ruled out for the rest of the season.
“Perspectives. You can say I should feel unlucky after coming off in my returning game and part of me is,” Pereira wrote.
“But after what could be a season-ending tackle, what could be an ACL, I’m feeling lucky it’s none of those even though I’ll be out some time.”
He added: “Like I say, it’s perspective, for some it was just a yellow card.”
Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers confirmed the severity of the injury, he said after the Foxes’ 6-3 away loss to Manchester City on Boxing Day: “Ricardo Pereira will be [out for] six to eight weeks.
“That’s so frustrating for him with how hard he has worked. For the referee not to see that, it’s a fractured fibula and he’s lucky it’s not worse.”
And former Sunderland striker Phillips thinks Morton was very lucky to get away without a sending off for his challenge on Pereira.
“He’s a young kid, it was a rash challenge and we all agree – it was a red card,” Phillips told Football Insider.
“He’s seen red there. It was a bad one. When I initially saw it, I thought it was a little bit naughty. But when you slow it down it looks a really bad one.
“The positioning of the referee has probably saved him being sent off. VAR not being in use for the game will have helped his cause too.
“For me, there’s no doubt that it was a red card. But for me, it’s one of those things that even themselves out over the space of the season.”
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