Liverpool were furious that Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh was not shown a second yellow card for diving after going down under pressure from Jeremie Frimpong in the box
Liverpool's Dutch defender #30 Jeremie Frimpong (L) vies with Brighton's Gambian midfielder #11 Yankuba Minteh
Yankuba Minteh went over in the box looking for a penalty(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
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Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard believes that Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh should have been shown a second yellow card for diving on Saturday. Arne Slot was furious after referee Darren England failed to take action against Minteh in the first half.
Minteh had already been booked in the Premier League's early kick-off when he threw himself to the floor. Brighton played the ball in behind Jeremie Frimpong and Minteh raced to get there first before flopping to the ground.
England waved away the Brighton winger's appeal for a penalty, but also didn't take action for diving. Slot was then seen screaming at the referee while making a diving motion with his hands.
Liverpool went into the break level at 1-1 with the Seagulls, but had salted rubbed in the wound shortly after half-time when Minteh provided the cross that saw Danny Welbeck score his second goal and put Brighton ahead for the second time.
Asked at half-time on TNT Sports if Minteh should have been sent off, Gerrard said: “Well I think he’s extremely lucky. It has been a great battle down that side - they’ve both got blistering pace. The ball gets played in behind here, there’s no contact and he just goes over.
"It is a dive in my opinion and he gets away with one here. He’s very very lucky. I’ll be surprised if the manager keeps him on much longer actually with [Kaoru] Mitoma on the bench, so keep an eye out for that as well.”
Ex-Liverpool striker Peter Crouch then added: “I agree with Arne Slot there. It was obvious that he was looking for the penalty and he quite easily could have gone there.”
Arne Slot motioning that Yankuba Minteh had dived
Arne Slot belived that Yankuba Minteh had dived
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Welbeck put Brighton ahead with a close-range header in the 14th minute before Lewis Dunk's error allowed Liverpool to equalise. The Brighton centre-back flicked on a long ball towards his goalkeeper, only for Milos Kerkez to read it and lob Bart Verbruggen for 1-1.
After Minteh avoided a red card - and Fabian Hurzeler opted against replacing him - Brighton took the lead again in the 56th minute. The winger sent in a delicious cross for Jack Hinshelwood, who cushioned it back into the path of Welbeck to side-foot him.
Minteh continued to be a threat down the left wing for Brighton, forcing Giorgi Mamardashvili into a save one-on-one minutes later after going through on goal.
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