LIVERPOOL MANAGER JURGEN KLOPP has dismissed the notion that Fabinho meant the horror late tackle on Evan Ferguson in their 2-1 defeat FA Cup to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
Brighton went 1-0 down to an early Harvey Elliot goal in the first half but battled back with a deflected strike from Lewis Dunk and a sensational goal from Brighton's new hero Kaoru Mitoma late on.
Before Mitoma's goal though there was a nasty challenge on Evan Ferguson late in the second half.
Fabinho, who came on as a substitute for Liverpool attempted to win the ball back from the Ireland forward, but missed the ball entirely and caught the 18-year-old on the back of the ankle.
The Brazilian's face said it all at the time and a red card that was expected at the time never came, only a yellow appeared from referee David Coote's pocket.
Ferguson limped off the pitch and was seen after the game on crutches in what will be a major blow for Stephen Kenny and Ireland ahead of the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
Fabinho knows himself. The fact that the officials and VAR see this as a yellow card is absolutely terrifying.pic.twitter.com/JYmAlmyv7Z
— Callum Castel (@callumcasteln) January 29, 2023
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi refused to blame Liverpool midfielder for the tackle and gave an update on the situation
'We are sorry for him (Ferguson),' the Italian told BeIN Sports. 'The injury, we don’t know yet, but we will see in the next days, and we hope for him and for the club that it will not be so important an injury.
'I think Fabinho is a quality player. It can happen on the pitch, these accidents.'
Klopp was also asked about the incident after the game and played down the idea that his midfielder meant harm to the Brighton youngster
'There was no dynamic in it. I just saw it once, not a second time. With dynamic movement, we can talk about a red card, but Fabinho was more lying, then he hit Ferguson] Not cool,' added Klopp after the game.
The Ireland youngster has scored three goals and provided two assists for Brighton since the turn of the New Year.
Ireland fans will be waiting impatiently for a positive update ahead of the France game next March.
Ireland play Diddier Deschamp's men on 27 March.
