November 12th 2023.
Thomas Frank, the Brentford manager, conceded that his team deserved to lose to Liverpool, but he was frustrated that Wataru Endo escaped a red card. In the second-half of the game, Endo challenged Christian Norgaard for the ball and caught him with his studs. Although the referee did not blow for a foul, VAR took four minutes to review the incident and decided to play on.
Most pundits agreed that it was a foul, but there was debate as to whether it warranted a yellow or red card. Thomas Frank believes it should have been a red card, based on similar incidents in recent games such as Liverpool's Curtis Jones, Manchester United's Marcus Rashford and Brentford's Josh Dasilva. He told BeIN Sports "First of all I think the ref should have seen it as a foul on the pitch. I think that back in the day it's probably not a red card. But in these days with the VAR and the slow mo, I think it's a clear red...If you look at the Curtis Jones [red card] that Liverpool got against them, [Marcus] Rashford's against Copenhagen, we had one for Josh Dasilva against Newcastle two years ago. When you have that still footage, plus the force, he's going over the ball, plus the pictures of clear studs on Nørgaard's leg with blood and everything, then it's a red card."
Ben Mee, a defender for Brentford, also expressed his surprise at the referee's decision. He said "It didn't look like a great tackle in real time. I know Christian Norgaard has got a few nasty cuts just under his knee. It looked a foul in real time. I can't believe he didn't give a foul. Whether it's a red card, I don't know, I've not seen the replays but it's one for people to talk about. You don't want to see players sent off but I was surprised it wasn't a foul."
It is the second time in three days that Endo has avoided a red card for a studs up challenge, having made a similar foul to that of Rashford's in the Europa League against Toulouse. Meanwhile, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp praised Endo for his 'top performance' and called him 'super disciplined'. It appears that the referee's decision was accepted and the debate of whether Endo should have seen red for this challenge on Christian Norgaard will continue.
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