Liverpool did well against Manchester City in the first half and looked more likely to win until a crazy moment, according to John Aldridge in his weekly ECHO column.
Gravenberch red card criticised
The two bookings for Ryan Gravenberch were ridiculous, with Elliot Anderson doing a belly flop after the first foul to try and get him booked. Aldridge said it might come across as sour grapes, but football is unbelievable now, and City are still top of the league with what's been going on.
You can't do much about 50/50 decisions because they're grey areas, but these wrong decisions are sometimes serious. Referees can sway a 50/50 decision in the way they want it to go, and there's nothing you can do about it.
Doku exploits the gap
After the red card, Jeremy Doku came on when Liverpool were down to 10 men. Gravenberch was on the right, but without him, Doku had as much room as he wanted to attack the full-back and was the match-winner. Gravenberch could have stopped most of his raids if he was still on the pitch, but Liverpool were opened up in that area.
The result flattered City massively and the last half hour was a horrible watch from the stands. The three points City gained could be meaningless. City fans were laughing and joking and waving their bananas, but when the appeal is concluded, those bananas are going to deflate. The football community has to come together on this matter and the chances are high that they will lose the points they have won.
Koumas and Wirtz assessed
Lewis Koumas is a raw talent who will play for Liverpool for a long time. He has the heart and spirit of a Liverpool fan and has acquitted himself well. He hit one chance too well, and if he'd mis-hit it slightly, it would have gone either side of the goalkeeper. It was a good strike and a decent save.
Nothing went right for Florian Wirtz on Sunday. He was extremely poor compared to what he has in his locker. He's still not settled in, and it's taken over a year. He's playing like he's got a weight on his shoulders, with his first five or six passes going astray. He might need a rest out of the starting XI, but the manager hasn't got many options. Gravenberch is out for Saturday, so he'll play in the week against LASK. Wirtz is underperforming right now and he knows it.
