Gary Neville actually had Liverpool supporters on his side with his reaction to Sadio Mane’s challenge on Ederson in Manchester City’s 5-0 win on Saturday.Neville was on co-commentary duty for Sky Sports when he said Mane had every right to go for the ball and that referee Jon Moss had ruined the game by sending him off."It's a 50-50 really and Ederson just gets there first. Sometimes a stadium can tell you if it's a bad challenge and there wasn't great reaction from anybody," the former Manchester United defender said."I don't think that is a red card. His eyes are on the ball, it's ridiculous. He wins that challenge, the goal is there for him."It wasn't one of those where you think the goalkeeper is the favourite. He does well to get out, and his foot is high.”Neville stuck to his opinion even after watching replays of the incident."Jon Moss, you have just ruined the game there,” he continued. “He didn't need to give a red card. He could have given a yellow. I think he's got it wrong.
"The reason Ederson is injured is because his back three have ridiculously tried to play the offside."
Neville's prediction has come true
Neville has continued to argue his opinion in the days since the collision and on Sunday he made a prediction on Twitter that has turned out to be absolutely spot on.
The former right-back said that the debate surrounding high boot challenges would intensify in the coming weeks as a result of the Mane and Ederson incident.
And, three days on, he’s already been right.
"The red yesterday irrespective of which view you have will result in total confusion in the coming weeks and months on high boot challenges," Neville wrote.
On Sunday, Newcastle United’s Matt Ritchie avoided a red card for an almost identical challenge on Swansea’s Alfie Mawson.
And in yesterday’s match between West Ham and Huddersfield at the London Stadium, the referee failed to show Winston Reid a card of any colour after he caught Steve Mounie in the face with his boot.
Liverpool fans aren't happy
Both incidents left Liverpool fans wondering how Ritchie and Reid escaped unpunished when Mane was shown a red card and received a three match ban.
Following the incident in West Ham’s 2-0 win on Monday, Neville took to Twitter to once again ridicule Mane’s sending off.
There are much, much more interesting topics to discuss in football than high boots but it would appear we’ll be talking about this for some time.