Arne Slot's Liverpool went into the break of their Premier League meeting with Brighton & Hove Albion as the happier of the two teams as Hugo Ekitike's early goal separated them – but the Anfield faithful would have felt hard done by as Diego Gomez escaped receiving a red card on the stroke of the half-time interval. The Premier League have now released a statement to explain their decision-making.
In need of a big win after what has been a turgid couple of months for the reigning champions of the Premier League, they were out of the blocks fast. Ekitike, starting ahead of £125 million man Alexander Isak once again, pounced on Brighton's sloppy defending and fired his effort home with ease.
It would have been a relief for those associated with the home side – from the home contingent to Slot himself – to see Ekitike's shot bypass the efforts of Bart Verbruggen, but there's an argument to be made that Brighton should have been reduced to ten men for the second 45, as Gomez's coming-together with Florian Wirtz resulted in a yellow card rather than the 22-year-old Paraguayan.
Premier League Release Statement to Explain Why Diego Gomez Escaped Red Card
Arne Slot
With just under a minute left to play, Gomez and his clubmates were scrapping to find a goal before going into the away dressing room. Energetic in the middle of the park and keen to regain possession, Gomez was overzealous in his attempt with Wirtz and Liverpool supporters were left fuming as he managed to escape with just a yellow card.
As evidenced by the footage below, Brighton's central midfielder totally mistimed his challenge and he caught the stomach of Wirtz, who signed for big money from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, stomach with his studs.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the Premier League Match Centre claimed that Gomez's challenge was checked and cleared by those manning VAR as they were of the belief that his challenge was not deemed as 'serious foul play' as he didn't use 'excessive force' as Wirtz fell to the floor in pain.
"The referee’s call of yellow card to Gomez was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the challenge on Wirtz deemed not to be with excessive force and not serious foul play."
Gomez, who was signed from Inter Miami, can count himself lucky that Craig Pawson – and those on VAR – believed that his challenge only required a yellow. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, striker-turned-pundit Chris Sutton said: "The challenge on Wirtz is a really poor one from Gomez. It's really high and catches Wirtz in the stomach. So high and dangerous. Another day, he could've seen red.”
Salah Returns to Action for Liverpool
liverpool salah
Mohamed Salah, after his public feud with manager Arne Slot, returned to the Liverpool squad for their match against Brighton & Hove Albion on December 13 – and he was quickly called upon after Joe Gomez picked up an injury in the 25th minute.
The Egyptian, widely regarded as one of the best players in the history of the Premier League, was named among the substitutes after missing the Reds' match against Inter Milan in midweek following his controversial interview. "I could not believe I was sitting on the bench for 90 minutes. That’s the third time," he said.
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"It’s the first time in my career I think. I am very disappointed, I have done so much for this club over years, especially last season, It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus," Salah continued and, as a result, Slot did not take him to the Italian capital for their Champions League fixture.
As mentioned, it wasn't long until Salah returned to the pitch after being subbed on inside the half-hour mark as he replaced Gomez. Liverpool fans made their feelings clear about the 33-year-old as they gave him a great reception: some were even stood on their feet, applauding, as he trudged onto the field of play. You can watch the footage of Salah coming on below: