The reason Ibrahima Konate avoided a red card during Liverpool’s victory over Wolves has now been clarified.
Arne Slot’s team extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to seven points with a 2-1 win at Anfield, courtesy of goals from Luis Diaz and Mohammed Salah.
However, the outcome could have been very different for the Reds after defender Konate narrowly escaped dismissal for a challenge on Wolves’ Matheus Cunha.
The Liverpool center-back had already received a yellow card earlier in the match and appeared to shoulder-barge Cunha after the striker outjumped him for a header.
Wolves manager Vitor Pereira was left incensed by the decision and argued post-match that Konate should have been sent off.
According to The Times, a directive issued to referees at the start of the 2024-25 season likely saved Konate from being sent off.
The report states that Premier League referees were instructed to raise the threshold for physical contact that should be considered a foul.
These guidelines were initially introduced last summer and were reinforced at the start of January.
It is claimed that the directive was intended to help the game “flow better without interruption” and allow fans to become “more engaged with the drama of the game.”
The change was reportedly made to reflect the physical nature traditionally associated with English football.
Wolves boss Pereira believed the incident was a crucial moment in the match, especially as his team applied significant pressure in search of a late equalizer. Cunha had pulled one back for Wolves after Diaz and Salah had given Liverpool a two-goal lead.
“I am not the referee but yes for me,” said Pereira. “What I say now will not change anything but in my opinion, the second yellow card should be shown.”
The Portuguese manager was also booked for dissent and added: “I don’t know (why I was carded), maybe because I am emotional when I am competing, I am not watching a movie on the sofa. I am there to compete, we must understand the emotional side of the game.
“It was not disrespectful in my opinion, I must have said but I am trying to accept a lot of decisions today. We must play the first half as we played the second half, this is what I want to see in my team – the personality, courage, and identity. Wolves woke up at halftime.”
Liverpool boss Arne Slot commented: “I took (Konate) off because of that. I saw him getting his first yellow – that for me was a soft yellow.
“If he had gotten his second one for a shoulder push, that would have again been a soft yellow so he would have been sent off for two soft yellows.
“I think the referee felt the same, that’s why he didn’t (book him again). But I’ve watched football so many times in my life and I know that a player and the referee is then under pressure. So every next foul will lead again to maybe a referee that thinks maybe he should give it.
“So I had to take him off because you can’t play football knowing in your head you can’t make a foul against such good players as Wolves have.”
