'This was worse' - Gary Neville makes Liverpool player red card admission after Tottenham loss
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Sky Sports pundit and commentator Gary Neville used Curtis Jones' 'harsh' red card offence against Tottenham as a measuring stick with Cristian Romero's overly-aggressive challenge last night.
Neville heavily criticised Tottenham defender Romero as Chelsea ran out 4-1 winners in the Premier League, in what was an enthralling game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium which had everything.
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Hide AdThe Argentinian was dismissed early on for a follow-through on Enzo Fernandez which resulted in a penalty - which was dispatched by Cole Palmer to bring Chelsea level - and a straight red card after a VAR check.
Of course, just over six weeks ago, Jurgen Klopp's side also played out one of the most entertaining and controversial games of the season that saw both Jones and Diogo Jota dismissed, with both being deemed as 'soft' red cards by most pundits and fans alike.
Jones was penalised for a tackle on Yves Bissouma which saw him initially receive a yellow card, before VAR intervened for the referee to see the challenge again on the pitchside monitor before deciding to award a straight red.
Neville mentioned Jones' tackle while on commentary last night during the Sky Sports coverage; he outlined that he believed the decision to dismiss Jones was harsh, but Romero's tackle on Enzo Fernandez was worse.
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Hide Ad"If you go back to Curtis Jones' challenge a few weeks ago that I thought was harsh, this one was worse".
During the Liverpool game with Spurs in late September, Neville sympathised with Jones as he claimed at the time that he didn't deserve to be sent off: "I know when you're doing someone. I've done it myself. It's showing the end motion which looks bad.
"His foot just slips. He's gone to tackle the ball. It's not a red card but he'll probably get one and it'll ruin the game.
"You can look at that one of two ways. You slow it down all day long and it looks like a leg breaker. It's one of the ones where he's gone in genuinely and his foot has slipped."
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Hide AdEven ex-Tottenham and Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp shared a similar view, calling it 'extremely harsh' at the time.
On top of the Romero sending-off, left-back Dennis Udogie also saw red for a second yellow card but he could and maybe should have seen red far earlier in the game.
His reckless two-footed challenge on Raheem Sterling saw him receive only a yellow card early on in the game. Still, Liverpool fans were up in arms at the fact that referee Michael Oliver only gave a yellow card for a tackle that looked like it had far more intent and danger attached to it than Jones' tackle ever did.
Once again, the lack of consistency is what is hugely frustrating. However, Liverpool fans can take stock of the fact that Spurs losing out in a heavy defeat has seen Klopp's side move within two points of the London side.
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