Arsene Wenger Claims Fabinho 'Cheated' To Get Alexis Sanchez Sent Off

Fabinho has been accused of 'cheating' to get Alexis Sanchez sent off, as Liverpool knocked Inter Milan out of the Champions League last 16.

Inter knew they were attempting the near impossible to get into the quarter finals, having given up a two goal advantage from the first leg, and not even having away goals to fall back on if the hosts got a goal.

The first half went by without them troubling Alisson too much with the incident of most note being Sanchez's challenge on Thiago, which many felt should have been a red.

Simone Inzaghi's side then got back into the tie through Lautaro Martinez's rocket, but as soon as they were in it, they were out of it.

Sanchez did get sent off, just a minute after the goal for a second yellow car, this time for challenge on Fabinho, but many felt the booking was harsh, as he first won the ball.

Arsene Wenger went further on beIN Sport, accusing the Brazilian midfielder for 'cheating' to get his opponent sent off, claiming Fabinho made more of the challenge than necessary.

"Borderline between cheating and being clever," the former Arsenal boss said in the studio.

"Fabinho, on this foul, was on the other side…he was cheating, he made more of it."

"Maybe he had pain but…he was touched by Sanchez, it wasn’t completely fake. Maybe he could have got up quicker.

"It was one of those fouls, if it was your player you say ‘it’s clever,’ when you’re completely neutral you say ‘he could have made less out of it.’

"He touched him but he didn’t want to hurt him, he touched first the ball."

Jurgen Klopp had less sympathy for the Chilean forward on the other hand, dismissing the complaints about the red card, saying, "I don't understand why we have to discuss that? He's flying in and can't stop hitting Fab in a bad way.

"It was lucky he didn't get a red card in the first half for the one on Thiago."

The Reds will be grateful that Sanchez got himself sent off so soon after Martinez's goal, killing any momentum the Italian champions had.

They march in the quarter finals, with a shot at an unprecedented quadruple still on.

Featured Image Credit: beIN Sport/BT Sport

Topics: Alexis Sanchez, Arsene Wenger, Champions League, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Premier League, Serie A, Fabinho

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

@Sidler28