“It is blatant cheating”, “Replay the game” – Rival fans fume over incident during Liverpool win over Everton

Fans are in disbelief that Ibrahima Konate wasn't handed a second yellow card in Liverpool's clash with 10-man Everton in the Merseyside rivals on Saturday (October 21).

Konate was already booked in the 50th minute after bringing Toffees midfielder Amadou Onana down. The French defender then stopped the visitors from breaking on the counter by tugging at Beto and giving away a free-kick in the 65th minute.

It looked to be a foul worthy of a second booking and a subsequent red card for Konate, but referee Craig Pawson opted only to award a free-kick. Everton boss Sean Dyche was outraged on the touchline and was booked for his protests.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp quickly reacted to the situation by subbing Konate off for Joel Matip just two minutes later. The Reds were awarded a penalty in the 74th minute when Michael Keane handled Luis Diaz's shot.

Mohamed Salah stepped up and scored the resulting penalty to put Klopp's men ahead. Everton were a man down after Ashley Young was handed two yellows in the first half. The Egyptian sealed all three points in the 90+7th minute.

Pawson's decision not to give Konate a second booking has been met with bemusement from fans. One fan reckons it's cheating:

Here's how fans on X (formerly Twitter) reacted to the Liverpool defender not being sent off in the Merseyside derby:

Rio Ferdinand lauds Liverpool star Mohamed Salah as one of the all-time greats

Rio Ferdinand has branded Mohamed Salah as one of the best players in Premier League history. The Manchester United icon alluded to Salah's goalscoring feats, telling TNT Sports:

Salah has long been one of Liverpool's protagonists since arriving at Anfield in 2017. He has bagged 194 goals and 83 assists in 316 games, winning the Premier League Golden Boot thrice.

The 31-year-old won the Premier League with Klopp's side in 2020 and has started the ongoing season strongly. He hs netted eight goals and four assists in 11 games across competitions

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Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

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A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

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