Advertisement

Liverpool youngster in shocking 'bite' incident before being sent off as manager rages

Liverpool loanee Owen Beck appears to be bitten on the neck during Blackburn Rovers's Lancashire derby with Preston North End
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Liverpool youngster Owen Beck was left outraged after seemingly being bitten on the back of the neck before he was sent off during Blackburn's Championship clash with Preston on Sunday.

The 22-year-old left-back, who is spending the season on loan with the Ewood Park outfit, was given his marching orders in the 89th minute in bizarre fashion during a feisty affair at Deepdale.

The hosts had already seen striker Sam Greenwood sent off in the first-half after being awarded a straight red card for a heavy tackle on Blackburn's Lewis Baker, before tempers flared once more in the dying embers of the game with the score locked at 0-0.

READ MORE: Liverpool news and transfers LIVE: Darwin Nunez reaction, Ryan Gravenberch praise, Florian Wirtz linked

READ MORE: Liverpool defender set for lengthy injury absence after 'unfortunate' setback

Preston's Milutin Osmajic hit the deck after dueling with Todd Cantwell and Yuki Ohashi, before his teammate Duane Holmes also found himself on the floor after going down over Beck's outstretched leg. However, the Liverpool loanee was in fact the biggest victim prior to the mass carnage.

Video replay captured Osmajic appearing to lift the Reds academy graduate up by his armpits before sinking his face into his neck, where his mouth was quite clearly open, leaving Beck screaming out in agony.

But despite then pulling down his shirt and saying "I've got a bite mark" to the referee, the defender was left dumbfounded when Matthew Donohue brandished the red card from his pocket and demanded he leave the field of play. At the same time, Osmajic was shown a yellow card.

The decision ultimately, and understandably, left Blackburn boss John Eustace boiling with rage in his post-match interview, telling talkSPORT : "He's got a big bite mark on the back of his neck and he's been in and showed all the lads that.

"He's very disappointed to be sent off, but obviously he doesn't like to have that on the back of his neck as well, so he's a bit quiet in there and a bit shook up."

Eustace then told Sky Sports "we'll have to wait and see" when asked whether Rovers would be appealing Beck's red card decision in the fiery Deepdale encounter, with each side leaving with a point from an otherwise quality-deprived fixture.

The result leaves Blackburn in fourth-place in the second tier, while Preston languish in 21st. Beck had featured for 90 minutes in his side's last two fixtures, making his debut in the 1-1 draw away to Burnley last month before helping to keep a clean sheet in the 3-0 victory over Bristol City last weekend.