Martin Atkinson performed well in varying circumstances in this intriguing battle; there was not so much to do in the first half but the opposite in the second period
He used his experience and common sense whenever he could to ensure that his was a positive influence on the game and did well not to let the emotion of the crowd influence his decision making.
The biggest call of the game was the clearest – once it became clear that both Atkinson and his assistant had seen Steven Gerrard’s stamp on Ander Herrera there could only be one outcome.
Gerrard accepted the decision to send him off after he had only been on the field for just over 30 seconds in a post-match interview. Atkinson did not let Herrera escape as he cautioned him for the late challenge which provoked Gerrard’s retaliation.
Atkinson was always going to come under pressure from Liverpool players and fans to ‘level things up’ and there were opportunities to do that the most notable 10 minutes later when Phil Jones mistimed a strong challenge on Jordan Henderson.
The incident was merely a poorly timed tackle and I thought that a yellow card was appropriate but Jones could just have easily seen red.
Late in the game Liverpool fans screamed for Wayne Rooney to be sanctioned when he caught Simon Mignolet but he had been blocked off by Martin Skrtel and that caused the collision.
Liverpool could easily have lost a second player at the very end of the game when Skrtel followed through on David De Gea but Atkinson showed a consistent approach and let the game end in a deserved away win.
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