Fans were left stunned by what former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg said during Liverpool’s match against AC Milan.
On Tuesday night, Arne Slot got his first taste of European football as Liverpool boss as they travelled to the historic San Siro to take on Serie A giants Milan.
The hosts got off to a perfect start after former Chelsea man Christian Pulisic netted inside four minutes.
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However, Paulo Fonseca’s men failed to hold on to their early advantage as goals from Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai sealed a 3-1 comeback win for the Reds.
During the match, which was shown live on Amazon Prime Video, former Premier League referee Clattenburg was brought in to analyse decisions.
In the second half, while speaking about a couple of decisions made by referee Espen Eskas, commentator Alan Shearer said: “He certainly hasn't been influenced by this crowd, they don't half make some noise at every decision they want. He hasn't been influenced at all.
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“I think he is just evening it up there isn't he. If he didn't give the first one then he's not giving that one.”
Clattenburg replied: “I think the first one is definitely a free-kick," the former referee said, remarking on a contentious decision during Prime's coverage of the game.
“I just think he needs to calm the crowd down, the crowd are against him. They have been putting pressure on him, we saw that with the penalty shout before that.”
He added: “I think the ref just needs to give one or two small fouls to get the judgement back.”
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Reacting on social media, one fan said: “Mark Clattenburg saying 'the ref needs to give Milan some fouls to win the crowd back' tells you everything you need to know about Premier League refereeing.”
Another tweeted: “Mark Clattenburg just said the ref should give a couple of "small fouls" in Milan's favour to calm the crowd down. He was a Premier League ref for 13 years.”
A third fan added: “Did Mark Clattenburg just admit basically giving fouls to the home team ‘to calm them down’? Surely that’s not allowed?”
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Someone else wrote: “Mark Clattenburg showing exactly the type of mindset that gets referees grief. “He’s lost the crowd, he needs to give one or two small fouls to get them back onside” No you don't, It’s your job to ref what you see, the crowd doesn't come into it.”
A fifth commented: “Mark Clattenburg talking absolute shite. Refs aren't there to ‘win the crowd back’. They're there to referee the match.”
Topics: Liverpool, Fan Reactions, Mark Clattenburg, AC Milan, Champions League, Football
Marcus Chan