Liverpool were reduced to 10 men against Fulham after 17 minutes following Andy Robertson's red card
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Liverpool defender Andy Robertson.
Dermot Gallagher believes it was the wrong decision to send Andy Robertson off against Fulham.
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes Andy Robertson was wrongly sent off during Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Fulham. The Scotland full-back was dismissed 17 minutes into the first-half against the Cottagers for a foul on Harry Wilson.
Robertson took a loose touch allowing for the Wales international to nip in to win the ball before the 30-year-old brought the former Liverpool winger down. Referee Tony Harrington allowed play to continue which resulted in a shot from Fulham striker Raul Jimenez, an advantage which the ex-official says makes the issue more problematic.
At that time, Arne Slot's were already behind after Andreas Pereira opened the scoring after 10 minutes but the Reds twice fought back through Cody Gakpo's equaliser before Diogo Jota cancelled out Rodrigo Muniz's goal 14 minutes from time.
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The dramatic encounter was overshadowed by key refereeing decisions with Issa Diop and Pereira avoiding red cards for incidents in the first nine minutes. And Gallagher has admitted that the referee made the wrong call to send Robertson off, he argued: "Well I've had a lot of time to look at this in the last 24 hours, I didn't think it was a red card at the time. I still don't.
"This is immaterial (VAR) because it's not offside but if you watch, Robertson doesn't know he's coming, he mis-controls it and Wilson nicks the ball.
"You look at that and go, 'Is he in control of the ball?' No. 'Is he going to gain control of the ball?' Very, very doubtful because I think a Liverpool player will get the ball. 'Is he moving towards goal?' No.
"There's too many variables for me. The 'O' stands for possible, if the referee whistled there it would be a different decision but because he let the play go on, there's a shot and the whistle goes when Van Dijk clears the ball - adds a complication to it.
"By in large, the more palatable decision would've been a yellow card. I have this notion, if you're going to give a red card, you whistle, you're in control of the decision but once you let it unfold, the landscape changes so you have lost a lot of control. If he thinks it's a red card here (Robertson's challenge) then blow (the whistle).
"The only person who gambles when you play advantage is the referee, if it's a red card offence just blow. There's a few issues, if the referee whistled immediately, most would've accepted it then it became complicated because Jimenez shoots and he's working back, most of that could've been avoided."