Roy Keane is convinced that Southampton midfielder Adam Lallana should have been sent off against Liverpool in Sunday's Premier League match at St Mary's.
Lallana was shown a yellow card by referee Samuel Barrott midway through the first half after a nasty challenge caused his studs to make contact with the left ankle of Liverpool player Ryan Gravenberch.
But Keane felt Lallana – who made 178 appearances for Liverpool between 2014 and 2020 – was lucky.
Asked during Sky Sports' half-time coverage whether Lallana should have seen red, Keane replied: 'Oh, I think so. He's not in control. He's not even looking at the ball.'
Keane – who received 13 red cards during his career in English football – added: “I would have been sent off for it.
“I would have been 100 percent, and I probably wouldn't have had any complaints.”
Keane then suggested that Lallana may have gotten off lightly because of his reputation as a nice guy.
“They've obviously looked at the player and said, 'Oh, well, he's not really a nasty guy,'” Keane said.
'None of the Liverpool players are after him. They were all polite to him, he's an ex-teammate.
'I think he got away with it. The more I look at it, the worse it is. I think it's red.'
Despite seemingly being released by the officials, Lallana still left Sunday's match early. The 36-year-old was sent off in the 37th minute after sustaining an injury.
It was still 0-0 when Lallana made a mistake on Gravenberch. But Liverpool eventually won 3-2 in a chaotic match.
Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring after half an hour, after Southampton made a mess of things by playing from the back.
Goals from Adam Armstrong and Mateus Fernandes then turned the match in the Saints' favour.
But Mo Salah hit back with a brace for the Reds, who now sit eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.
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