It was two separate incidents involving two separate sets of players, but both Liverpool attacker Raheem Sterling and Swansea City midfielder Jonjo Shelvey could be facing the wrath of the Football Association in the coming days.
Sterling, who clashed with Federico Fernandez during the Reds victory over the Welsh side at Anfield on Tuesday night, could receive a violent conduct charge after responding to a slap on the side of the head from the Argentine defender with a slap of his own. Although the linesman was well positioned to see the incident unfold, no foul was given — much to the chagrin of the commentators. That, of course, wasn’t the only scuffle missed by referee Andre Marriner, and though there’s no indication quite yet that Sterling will be cited, his counterpart in Shelvey hasn’t fared as well.
It wasn’t that long ago that the former Liverpool midfielder got a public dressing down from Swans manager Gary Monk over his conduct and now he’s gone at gotten himself in a spot of bother after appearing to elbow Reds pseudo-defender Emre Can in the face during the first half of play. The 22-year old now faces a four match ban for violent conduct and has until 6pm on Wednesday to respond to the charges.
Despite the fact that Sterling looks to have gotten away with any further punishment, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers thinks the ref got both calls right, even though it clearly looks like Shelvey gave his player a real smack in the face. “I have seen the two. The cameras will probably show it 100 times on Tuesday and we will get bored of watching it,” said the Northern Irishman. “I think the referee has called both right and got on with the game.”
