Former Liverpool captain Graeme Souness believes Marcel Sabitzer was fortunate to avoid a red card during Manchester United's victory over Leicester City on Sunday - which would have seen the midfielder suspended for their trip to Anfield next month.
The Austrian, who temporarily switched to Old Trafford from Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich last month, launched a reckless challenge on Foxes' defender Wout Faes during the closing stages of the first half. However, referee Stuart Atwell deemed the challenge only to be worthy of a yellow card and VAR officials at Stockley Park also felt the challenge was not deserving of a red card.
But at half-time of Sky Sports' Super Sunday coverage, Souness insisted the United midfielder was lucky to avoid a sending-off and was in doubt that the challenge had all the hallmarks of "dangerous play".
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"100 per cent," replied Souness when asked if Sabitzer should have been given his marching orders. "I think this is a red card for several reasons.
"For a start, he’s partly to blame because he’s on his heels, Faes, when this ball breaks from him not being alive to it, but that, Sabitzer has turned side-on to him, and that’s a classic case of if you’re going to go and do someone, that’s how you do it.
"You turn side-on. If he makes contact with the ball, what’s he going to do with the ball? He’s looking at the player. I don’t care what some referee who’s never played the game has to say on that, that is a sending off. If that’s not dangerous play, what is?"
Souness added: "Ask any professional footballer, he’s turned side-on, that’s a classic case of setting yourself up to do someone."
Fellow pundit and former Chelsea forward Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink soon weighed in on the debate, admitting he too was "surprised" at Atwell's decision to only brandish a yellow card.
With the game evenly poised at 1-0, thanks to a string of world-class saves from David de Gea, United soared through the gears after the interval and a second goal from Marcus Rashford was shortly followed up by a Jadon Sancho tap-in after a sweeping counter-attack, which saw Erik Ten Hag's side extend their advantage to three goals.
If Sabitzer was to have been sent off he would have been ruled out of Manchester United's trip to Anfield on March 5, with a red card shown as a result of violent conduct activating an automatic three-game ban, at least. He would have also missed United's League Cup final against Newcastle United next weekend.
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