Liverpool manager Arne Slot was shown a red card after the full-time whistle in the Merseyside derby, and a lip reader has revealed the Dutchman’s exchange with Michael Oliver
Arne Slot said ‘great game’ to Michael Oliver before he was shown a red card and told to ‘keep away’ by Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk, according to a lip reader.
The final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park ended nightmarishly for Liverpool as chaos broke out after Slot’s side conceded an equaliser at the death.
James Tarkowski’s last-gasp goal and red cards for Curtis Jones, manager Slot and his assistant Sipke Hulshoff bookended a frustrating day at the races for the Premier League leaders, following a dramatic 2-2 draw. All three dismissals – as well as one for Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure – happened after the final whistle due to an on-field melee sparked by Doucoure’s celebration in front of the away fans.
Jones was given a second yellow card for confronting and pushing the Mali international, but the reason for Slot’s red card was less obvious. It came after the Dutchman shook referee Oliver’s hand forcefully, though it was his two-word comment seconds earlier that could have also landed him in hot water.
According to lip reading expert Jeremy Freeman, Slot said to Oliver, “Great game” as he approached him, which the official seemingly took as sarcasm and promptly reached for his pocket. A stunned Slot then asked: “Sure, you give me a red for that?… I will check it out for later… me and you, yeah?”.
Van Dijk then intervened, suggesting that Slot’s aggressive handshake, not his ‘great game’ comment, was the issue. “Hey, Michael… that was not a pull [of your arm]… Michael… it isn’t personal,” he said, before advising his manager to “keep away”.
On Thursday, it was announced that Slot was facing a two-match touchline ban for the incident. This means he’ll be in the stands for Liverpool’s upcoming games against Wolves and Aston Villa, barring a successful appeal.
According to Sky Sports, Slot was irate over referee Oliver’s choice to not give Liverpool a free-kick prior to Everton’s last-second equalising goal. The VAR team agonised for more than three minutes before deciding to award the goal, after scrutinising a razor-thin offside call and a potential foul on Ibrahima Konate.
Liverpool were also unhappy with the manner of Everton’s first goal too, with Konate’s foul on Iliman Ndiaye, which led directly to Beto’s opener, considered by some to have been a soft one. Four minutes later, however, Liverpool equalised through Alexis Mac Allister, while Mo Salah thought he’d won the game with his strike on 73 minutes. But Tarkowski and his thunderous right boot had other ideas.
After the game, Van Dijk accused Oliver of losing control of proceedings, and suggested that his decision-making had cost Liverpool all three points. “I think the referee had a big part in the game today in terms of certain challenges were given [as] a foul, and similar challenges [weren’t],” he told TNT Sports.
“We saw how they celebrated the goal… they wanted to provoke our fans. Curtis didn’t think that was the right thing to do… I think the ref didn’t have the game under control in my opinion. I said it to him.”
However, Everton felt hard done by too, especially after they were denied a penalty when the ball hit Konate’s arm in the area. Many also felt that Reds defender Conor Bradley was lucky to avoid a second yellow for a challenge on Doucoure in what turned out to be one of the most controversial Merseyside derbies in some time.
The result means Liverpool now sit seven points ahead of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table, while Everton have jumped over West Ham to take the 15th spot. Crucially, they’ve extended the points gap between themselves and the drop zone to 10.
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