Don't say Gary Neville didn't warn you.
When Sadio Mane was shown a straight red card after his high boot tackle on Ederson during Liverpool's 5-0 defeat to Manchester City, Gary Neville argued the challenge wasn't worthy of the punishment.
After the game, he predicted that the incident would create confusion for referees going forward regarding how high-footed fouls should be punished.
He claimed that regardless of what side of the argument everyone fell on the Mane foul, it would open up a can of worms in terms of officiating.
https://twitter.com/GNev2/status/906769056782540800
Remarkably, he has been proving to be correct not once, but twice as Newcastle's Matt Ritchie only received a yellow card after colliding with Alfie Mawson in a very similar incident.
Ritchie quickly pleaded his case to the referee that he was going for the ball, and he remained on the pitch to see his team score a 1-0 away win on Sunday.
Then, on Monday night, West Ham's Winston Reid was involved in another similar incident with Huddersfield's Steve Mounie. During a midfield tussle, Reid's boot connected with Mounie's face. It was unintentional, Mounie required a little bit of attention, but was able to play on.
No card was shown by the referee.
https://twitter.com/GNev2/status/907330927449305089
https://twitter.com/GNev2/status/907331929300717568
Just as Neville predicted, a lot of fans were left wondering what exactly Mane did that was so different.
https://twitter.com/ZAC_AE/status/907329042310889473
https://twitter.com/paddysloan9/status/907328883812454400
https://twitter.com/DHarrison200/status/907329793095606272
https://twitter.com/hasanshahbaz19/status/907329426228174850
Mounie may have felt a little hard done by, but at least he emerged from the situation relatively unscathed.
The same cannot be said for Ederson, whose face bears a nasty mark from Mane's boot.
https://twitter.com/danielstorey85/status/907283133506220032
Ouch.
