Liverpool fullback John Arne Riise has moved to defend team mate Javier Mascherano after the Argentine was sent off in yesterday’s clash with Manchester United.
The midfielder was handed two yellow cards by referee Steve Bennett, the second of which was foe dissent for questioning a caution handed out to Fernando Torres.
Mascherano was understandably irate at the decision to send him off and had to be restrained by team mates from remonstrating with the match official.
Team mate John Arne Riise, who appeared as a late substitute believes Mascherano will learn from the experience but says the referee should have used Reds captain Steven Gerrard in an effort to diffuse the situation.
“I don’t know what was said between Mascherano and Bennett but I feel that the referee should have called Steven Gerrard to him before this” Riise told ‘Dagbladet.no’.
“Mascherano boiled over, but he will learn from this.
“Mascherano is an intense player who loves the club and loves to win; therefore he probably got a little too hot in that situation.”
The Norwegian admitted that United deserved their victory even though he confessed he hated losing to their fierce rivals.
“I hate losing to Manchester United, but they deserved their victory, but I felt that we had something going in the second period when we were only one behind” Riise explained.
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