Henry Tomlinson believes Matic should have been sent off against West Ham
Henry Tomlinson believes Nemanja Matic should have been sent off against West Ham when he appeared to kick out at Vladimir Coufal off the ball.
The Brighton Argus reporter revealed on his Twitter account how he felt about the tackle that went unpunished.
Matic ran into tackle Coufal, who flicked the ball off his leg and out for a throw but the Serbian then lifted a knee into the 29-year-old’s groin.
Coufal went down but didn’t make too much of it, and Matic stayed on the field [Sky Sports].
Tomlinson, though, wasn’t happy with what he saw.
He said: “I’ve seen this clip a few times now, and in my opinion, this is at the same level as Suarez’s bites.
“It is just a blatant move to hurt the player and should be punished with a retrospective ban.”
Should Matic have been sent off?
This was a cruel and unnecessary challenge from the former Chelsea midfielder, and he probably should have been sent off.
We are not sure it is the same as Luis Suarez’s bites, but it is still a dirty and deliberate attempt to hurt the opponent.
If Coufal had perhaps made more of it, then you would think the Serbian could have been sent packing, but it shouldn’t take a player making a meal of something for the appropriate action to be taken by the official.
There is no VAR in the Carabao Cup, so they couldn’t help the referee, but he should now be handed a retrospective ban because you can’t get away with doing things like that on the pitch [Sun].
The Hammers were fantastic as they beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, and it is just a shame that Matic got away with attempting to injure Coufal.
In other West Ham news, one club have been ruled out of the race for one Irons star.
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