Liverpool 2-0 Porto - Tuesday 9th April, 2019 (QF 1st Leg)

[IgnisExcubitor]

Can't really complain about the result. The players were professional. Salah was lucky on that challenge. 

Not really surprised with Hendo's performance. He is a box to box midfielder. Pair him with a good DM, which Fabinho obviously is, and you will get an energetic and honest performance. 

Also thought Milner did quite well at LB. 

[Mel81x+]

One of the things I forgot to comment on about the game last night was the bench. Joe Gomez was on it so that gives me good hope that he will be a part of the final run of games as well. Not that Lovren did bad on the day but it is encouraging to see our players come back to the fold.

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 minutes ago, Stan said:

This isn't directed towards you but I don't like it when people generally say 'he didn't make a scene/he didn't make a meal of it' so therefore the offending player should be punished. 

That's exactly why players do go down sometimes making a meal of it because they wouldn't get the decision otherwise. Not saying it's right but if they genuinely get fouled but don't make a meal of it and because of that, a referee doesn't give a free-kick, I think that's unfair. 

I don’t disagree with you, but referees are human. And 2 otherwise identical fouls can look very different with some playacting, and referees see that and get fooled by it - it looks much worse than it was/would have looked and it impacts the decision.

Here, if I were a referee and was neutral, I would have given a red personally. I’ve seen arguments as to why it’s not a red, even some by a Man Utd fan weirdly, like what I said above + Salah’s shirt being pulled making an effect on the VAR review to not give a red. I don’t know if that was the reason or what - like I said, I would have given a red.

On a more positive note, I’m loving that Henderson is playing in a more advanced midfield role again.

[Guest]

On 10/04/2019 at 14:46, Stan said:

This isn't directed towards you but I don't like it when people generally say 'he didn't make a scene/he didn't make a meal of it' so therefore the offending player should be punished. 

That's exactly why players do go down sometimes making a meal of it because they wouldn't get the decision otherwise. Not saying it's right but if they genuinely get fouled but don't make a meal of it and because of that, a referee doesn't give a free-kick, I think that's unfair. 

I remember saying in the old forum once that sometimes players have to dive a bit because otherwise they might not get a penalty when they should.