Former England captain says Fabinho should have sent off for Evan Ferguson challenge

Patrick McCarry

The Ireland international was in severe discomfort as he left the field.

Brighton have knocked holders Liverpool out of the FA Cup, but at a cost to one of their top young talents. Fabinho was lucky to avoid a red card, minutes before the Reds were stunned by an injury-time winner.

Liverpool went 1-0 up against B&H Albion at the Amex as they sought to avenge their recent league loss at the same venue. Their hosts struck back through Lewis Dunk, before half-time, with their winner arriving in the 92nd minute through Kaoru Mitoma.

The Japanese star controlled a cross in the Liverpool box, took another touch and finished superbly past Alisson to make it 2-1. By this stage, Evan Ferguson was back in the Brighton dressing room.

In the final 10 minutes, not long after he had come on for Stefan Bajcetic, Fabinho went through the back of the Ireland forward as he sought to make a pass. The teenager was in a bad way and required treatment on the pitch before being helped off. You can watch the incident here, with Fabinho immediately knowing he had erred.

Shocking. pic.twitter.com/huvKI0MNcw

— Ireland Radar (@IrelandRadar) January 29, 2023

Evan Ferguson of Brighton & Hove Albion receives medical treatment, at Amex Stadium. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Terry Butcher on Fabinho challenge

There was a VAR check on the Fabinho challenge, which played out as Evan Ferguson limped off the pitch. It was eventually decided that a yellow card was sufficient but Terry Butcher disagreed.

On BBC 5 Live for the game, the former England captain said:

“If you look at it closely that could easily be a red card. That’s endangering the health and safety of an opponent. Fabinho’s certainly left his mark.”

Fabinho was one of four Liverpool players cautioned while Lewis Dunk was the sole Brighton player that went in the book.

“Sometimes you have to win a game like that,” Dunk told ITV. “We weren’t great today but managed to grind it out against a top side. They are top players and top strikers, especially after the win 15 days ago when we were very good and beat them.”