Former Premier League referee Mike Dean has expressed his surprise at Ibrahim Konate’s red card during Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Everton. Konate was booked early in the second half for tripping Amadou Onana and preventing a counter-attack.
However, just 15 minutes later, Konate committed a similar foul on Beto, but despite protests from the Everton players and coaching staff, a second yellow card was not issued. Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool had successfully avoided a possible dismissal and brought on Joel Matip to replace Konate two minutes after the incident. The decision to exclude Konate was criticized by Mike Dean during Sky Sports’ live coverage of the Merseyside derby.
Dean believed the France defender should have received a second yellow card. “I think that’s actually the second yellow card. For consistency, we send a player off for two fouls in the first half. He did two in 10 minutes. I guarantee it will be replaced.”Everton manager Sean Dyche expressed his disbelief at the decision and questioned why Konate was not shown a second yellow card. Dyche said: “I asked the referee if he thought it wasn’t a bookable foul and he felt it straight away. I don’t know what it was like back then. “I like to think there are a lot of honest people in football and I think people today would be surprised it wasn’t a second yellow card.”Despite the controversy surrounding Konate’s actions and the lack of punishment, Liverpool won. The incident took place with Everton 10 men down at half-time after Ashley Young received two yellow cards.Disagreements over red card incidents reflect the subjectivity and interpretation of the referee’s judgment. Dean Conate felt he should have been sent off but the referee didn’t think it was necessary on the day. The incident sparked debate among fans and pundits, with some calling for stricter rules and others calling for consistency in decision-making. Liverpool.com says: Dean was right when he said Liverpool were lucky here. But the Reds were better in this game and would have been tied with 10 men. Even in a 10-10 situation, Liverpool has the best chance to win the match. And it’s not the most controversial refereeing moment in recent Manchester United games.
