Wayne Rooney gives 'two reasons' why he disagrees with Arne Slot as Liverpool boss left fuming

Arne Slot felt Marc Guehi should have been sent off during Manchester City's win over Liverpool at Anfield, but Wayne Rooney disagrees and has given two reasons why

Wayne Rooney disagrees with Arne Slot on one incident during Liverpool's defeat to Manchester City(Image: BBC Sport)

Wayne Rooney disagrees with Arne Slot, and feels the right decision was made in not sending Marc Guehi off during Liverpool’s defeat to Manchester City.

The Reds lost more ground in the race for the Premier League’s top four on Sunday after falling to a 2-1 defeat in a chaotic finish at Anfield. Dominik Szoboszlai had given the hosts the lead with a spectacular free-kick in the second half before Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland struck late to boost City’s hopes of catching Arsenal in the title race.

The game ended in controversial circumstances, with the visitors having been denied a third when Rayan Cherki’s pass trickled into the Liverpool net. VAR intervened after Szoboszlai and Haaland traded shirt pulls in the process, leading to the former being sent off.

That wasn’t the incident that irked Slot though, with the Reds’ boss far from happy at seeing Guehi - who was booed throughout in his first appearance at Anfield following his move to City - only shown a yellow card after pulling Mohamed Salah back as the Egyptian looked to run in on goal.

"We can talk about the decisions," Slot said on Sky Sports. "I would like to talk about the one time Mo was through on goal and Guehi holds his shirt.

"Everyone who has been in this stadium in the last eight years knows if Mo is in that position, it is a goal. So it is a denial of a goalscoring opportunity."

Arne Slot felt Marc Guehi should have been sent off for pulling Mohamed Salah back(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

Former Manchester United and Everton star Rooney though disagrees, and feels that City had enough cover to potentially deny Salah.

“No, I don’t think it’s a clear goalscoring opportunity, and I think for two reasons really,” Rooney said on the BBC’s Match of the Day.

“It’s a really good piece of play from Szoboszlai, and then it’s a really good pass, but then Mo Salah gets the wrong side of Guehi, Guehi pulls him back, so it’s a clear foul, we know that.

“But then you look at [Ruben] Dias’ position and [Gianluigi] Donnarumma, can Donnarumma get out to his feet, but Dias is covering the goal.

“So I don’t think it’s a clear goalscoring opportunity. I think it’s a yellow card.”

Liverpool now has plenty of work to do if it is to qualify for next season’s Champions League. A top five finish looks as though it might be enough for the English teams again this season, although even that is still looking like a big ask for the Reds.

They sit five points behind Manchester United and four behind Chelsea now, with a tricky trip to Sunderland, who boast the only unbeaten home record in the league awaiting on Wednesday.