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Gary Neville recalls Liverpool controversy as Tottenham vs Arsenal tensions boil over

-Credit: (Image: 2024 Marc Atkins)
-Credit: (Image: 2024 Marc Atkins)


Gary Neville recalled Curtis Jones' tackle on Yves Bissouma which was punished with a red card last season, after Jurrien Timber escaped with a yellow card for a similar challenge during Sunday's North London derby.

Jones was controversially sent off against Spurs last October, after his studs rolled over the top of the ball and made contact with Bissouma's leg.

The Liverpool midfielder was initially shown a yellow card before a VAR intervention saw the on-field referee's decision upgraded to a straight red card.

Eleven months on, Timber produced a similar challenge on Pedro Porro and was shown a yellow card. On this occasion, there was no VAR intervention to upgrade the defender's punishment to a red card.

Neville was on co-commentary duty for the derby and mentioned the incident involving Jones as he discussed Timber's foul, explaining why he thought the right decision was made on both occasions.

“There was one here last season with Curtis Jones where he tried to do the same thing," Neville said on Sky Sports. "But he (Jones) didn’t quite put his foot on the ball, he went over the top. That one ended up being a red card, which is the big difference between the two.”

Timber's challenge during Arsenal's trip to Spurs sparked a scuffle between the two sets of players, with Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario sprinting out of his penalty area to confront the Dutch defender.

Eventually, things calmed down, and Vicario was unsurprisingly booked for his aggressive reaction to Timber's challenge before the game got back under way.