Phil Jagielka has criticised Ashley Young after he was sent off in the Merseyside derby.
Speaking on TNT Sports, the former Everton defender suggested there should be no question about whether Young was shown a second yellow.
Young started the match with a heroic block to prevent Liverpool from opening the scoring early on, however things quickly went downhill for him when he was booked for a blatant foul on Luis Diaz.
It wasn’t long before the 38-year-old brought Diaz down once again just outside of the box and was dismissed by referee Craig Pawson, leaving Everton to take on Liverpool with only ten men.
The decision to send off Young came under criticism from many pundits and supporters, with journalist Henry Winter claiming it was ‘harsh’. However, Jagielka had no problem with the second yellow.
Speaking at half-time, Jagielka said: “‘The good, the bad and the ugly. Fantastic block, but unfortunately for Young things went from bad to worse. He hangs a leg in and knows exactly what he’s doing and that’s a definite yellow. Then as soon as you’ve been booked you can’t make a challenge like this.”
Should Ashley Young have been sent off?
There is unsurprisingly debate over whether Ashley Young should have been sent off, and it probably was a bit harsh to show him another yellow for his challenge on Luis Diaz.
However, the 38-year-old is comfortably the most experienced player in that Everton team and should know not to go in with such a poor foul. Even if it was harsh, Young shouldn’t have been silly enough to risk it.
We will never know what could have happened if the defender wasn’t dismissed, but he can definitely take some of the blame for the defeat. A stupid mistake by someone who should know better.
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