Carragher fumes at Mac Allister and demands law change over 'embarrassing' act

Jamie Carragher has slammed Alexis Mac Allister for his "embarrassing" dive to try and get Noni Madeuke sent off - and called for unified action against play-acting.

Mac Allister was at the centre of a flashpoint in the second half of Liverpool's 1-0 defeat by Arsenal on Sunday afternoon. The Liverpool midfielder sparked a melee by slapping Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard on the back of the head while he was on the ground.

Jurrien Timber and Madueke then confronted Mac Allister, who threw himself to the ground dramatically after a minor contact with the latter's forehead. Madueke had already been booked, but the officials weren't fooled, with Mac Allister and Timber given yellow cards by referee Andy Madley.

The VAR Stuart Attwell said: "There is some contact as Madueke and Mac Allister square up. In my opinion, it's not forceful, not violent, not brutal”.

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Carragher was furious with Mac Allister's behaviour and called for it to be stamped out of the game. "I'm delighted he didn't get sent off there," he said after the full-time whistle on Sky Sports. "We have really got to be strong and start calling people out and say 'this is embarrassing'. It's got to stop, it's ridiculous. I can't stand it.

"This head to head stuff... if someone puts their head back and butts, of course, red card. But this stuff where they go head to head and if someone touches the other goes down and the player gets sent off... as a game, people in the Premier League, supporters, call your own out for it.

"I'm a Liverpool fan and it's a joke from Mac Allister, it's got to stop. People are trying to gain an advantage because they know they can, because red cards are getting given for it. Whether it's from Howard Webb, the Premier League, the managers get together, stop getting red cards for this c***!"

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Carragher was backed up by Gary Neville on co-commentary. "I don't think Mac Allister needs to go down like that but there's a little nudge with the head. A little inch forward can cost you a lot," he said while watching the incident play out.

"Mac Allister's reaction is a bit over the top, I can tell you that. Get up. Embarrassing. It's Mac Allister's fault because he slaps Odegaard when he's down which is unnecessary.

"It's the little movement forward of Madueke's head they're looking at. I hope they don't go for a red card for it."

Arsenal legend Ian Wright also called for the laws of the game to be changed to clarify these types of situations. "The first thing with Mac Allister is the way he goes over. He's actually slapped Odegaard on the back of the head," he said.

"The laws have to do something about this because that [Mac Allister going down] is trying to get someone sent off. Common sense prevailed because he [Madueke] didn't push his head into him, he just confronted him and Mac Allister tried to take that advantage to go down."