ARSENAL legend Arsene Wenger believes Liverpool star Fabinho cheated to get Inter Milan’s Alexis Sanchez sent off.
Inter beat the Reds 1-0 at Anfield in the Champions League’s Round of 16 but Jurgen Klopp’s men were the ones that qualified for the quarter-finals after winning 2-0 in the first leg at the San Siro.
Inter Milan star Alexis Sanchez was sent off after a challenge on Liverpool’s FabinhoCredit: Not known, clear with picture deskArsene Wenger believes Fabinho cheated to get his ex-Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez sent offCredit: Getty
The Nerazzurri scored the winner on 61 minutes with Lautaro Martinez’s screamer after Sanchez, who played under Wenger at the Gunners, provided the assist.
But the ex-Manchester United ace was sent off just two minutes later for a second yellow card after a challenge on Fabinho.
And Wenger believes the Liverpool midfielder “made more of it” to get his former Arsenal star ejected from the pitch.
The Frenchman told beIN SPORTS: “Borderline between cheating and being clever.
“He was cheating, he made more of it. Maybe he had pain, he was touched by Sanchez. You cannot say it was completely fake.
“Maybe he could have got up quicker. It’s one of those fouls – when it’s one of your plays you say it’s clever, when you’re completely neutral like we’re supposed to be you can say he could have made less of it.
“He didn’t want to hurt him, he played first the ball.”
Nevertheless, Wenger admits Liverpool deserved to qualify as they put together an impressive performance despite their loss.
However, the 72-year-old believes the referee “killed the game” with that red card on Sanchez.
Wenger added: “The referee killed the game at the wrong moment. It could have been interesting to see the last 25 minutes with 11 against 11.
“Overall Liverpool deserved to qualify – even today they three times hit the post. But I don’t agree with the decision of the referee. It killed the interest of the game.”
