Liverpool supporters on social media were left fuming by the fine awarded to Chelsea following the pair’s Premier League clash a fortnight ago.
The Blues have been charged £25,000 by the FA for the inability of Thomas Tuchel’s men to keep their emotions under wraps in the aftermath of Reece James’ sending off.
Chelsea were aggrieved when James was shown his marching orders after he deflected Sadio Mane’s goal-bound shot with his hand.
A blue swarm surrounded referee Anthony Taylor, protesting their teammate’s innocence.
Following a prolonged VAR check, plus a quick trip to the pitchside monitor, Taylor’s decision was confirmed and James was sent for an early shower.
But the protests continued, even after the half-time whistle had been blown.
Liverpool players also got involved, making for quite an ugly scene at Anfield.
Not to let the incident go unpunished, the FA dished out the financial penalty to Chelsea, but Reds fans felt was totally unsatisfactory.
Here’s how they reacted on Twitter:
Thats pocket money for them, pure joke
— jonnie doyle (@jonnieivandoyle) September 8, 2021
Should be more 😳
— Hamza020 (@Hamza_020_) September 8, 2021
That is literally 20p to them lol why can’t they hand out suspensions instead
— Kizz (@Kizzster) September 8, 2021
That is 0,00001 % from their budget. For FSG it would mean we can sign 1 less player “next summer”… phew…
— Julian 👑 (@01mJulian) September 8, 2021
woooo boy. there goes their transfer budget for 2022. 🙄
— Brandon Chase (@Brandon_S_Chase) September 8, 2021
Not sure how this helps us?
— Morne Denere (@MorneDenere) September 8, 2021
gonna do a big difference that
— 🏴🏴 (@lfcleonn) September 8, 2021
Seeing red
In terms of the incident itself, Chelsea believed the ball had bounced up onto James’ arm, rather than him making a purposeful action towards it.
Yet, such is the current FA laws, preventing a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity with a handball is a red card, accidental or not.
Before the card had been brandished, Tuchel’s side were leading 1-0 thanks to a clever Kai Havertz header.
But Liverpool were offered a lifeline thanks to James’ dismissal and the subsequent penalty.
Mohamed Salah tucked away the spot-kick against his former employers, but the scores stayed level from that point on.
Which is testament to Chelsea, who coped with the constant wave of Red pressure expertly.
Considering the circumstances, a point on Myreside is not a terrible result in the slightest.
Even if it came with a financial punishment and the loss of a key defender for the next few fixtures.