Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Steven Gerrard Avoids FA Punishment After Clash With Michael Brown


Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will not face action from the Football Association following his clash with Portsmouth midfielder Michael Brown.

It is understood the FA sought clarification from referee Stuart Attwell after Gerrard appeared to catch Brown with his forearm during the 4-1 win for Rafael Benitez's men at Anfield.

Attwell saw the incident at the time and spoke to Gerrard after awarding Portsmouth a free-kick, with the FA following guidelines not to punish players retrospectively if the match official sees the alleged offence.

The news will no doubt come as a welcome relief to Gerrard who, only a week ago, escaped punishment despite television pictures suggested he made an offensive gesture towards referee Andre Marriner in the defeat at Wigan.

Following the game at Anfield, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insisted his player had nothing to answer for.

"’I don’t think so,’’ said the Spaniard when asked if he was worried about retrospective action against his captain.”I haven’t seen it but I was asking and I think it was nothing.’’

Victory against Portsmouth meant Liverpool bounced back from back-to-back defeats, against Wigan and Lille in the Europa League, with the return leg against the French side on Thursday.

"We knew that it was a must-win game," said goalkeeper Jose Reina. "Fortunately we did it and performed really well. Hopefully we can do it again on Thursday.

"When the team is playing well, we can score at any time. For the 10 minutes we were incredible."

No comments: