Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw at Anfield last night by Leicester City, and the result robbed them of a huge advantage to go seven points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table.
The Etihad Stadium outfit lost 2-1 to Newcastle United on Tuesday night, failing to close the four-point gap that was between them and the Reds heading into the game.
Nevertheless, Liverpool still hold a five-point advantage, but things might have been different had Leicester City been reduced to 10 men after Harry Maguire fouled Sadio Mane when he appeared to be through on goal.
Despite him being the last man, referee Martin Atkinson elected to only book the English defender to the ire of the hosts.
Maguire had denied Mane a clear goalscoring opportunity, but the incident happened closer to the halfway line than the visitors’ goal, and that appeared to factor in Maguire’s favour.
Minutes later and towards the end of the first half, the 25-year-old grabbed the Foxes’ equalizer, but he admitted after the match he feared getting his marching orders after the foul.
“I feared it yeah (a red card), but I thought it (a yellow card) was the right decision,” the England international told beIN SPORTS post-game.
“I went hard with the match, didn’t mean to stand on the back (of his heels), it was a clash and obviously with Jonny (Evans) the ball was gonna need his touch. It wasn’t gonna go through. So by the time we clashed, Jonny still was in control of the ball, so he could have controlled the ball.
“I didn’t mean to trip him (Mane) off, yea I did catch him on the back of his heels, I think I did. Obviously, in that moment you don’t wanna see a red card but I think it was the right decision.”
Harry Maguire scored the equalizer but should he have been sent off earlier?#beINPL #LIVLEI ? HD11 pic.twitter.com/o2gBkcioGW
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 30, 2019
Liverpool are still very much in lead at the top of the table, but it’s not a very comfortable one, and it will only help make the title race further intense and interesting going forward.
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