As the match between Ajax and Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League became increasingly ugly, Jordan Henderson became involved in a fight that broke out in the middle of the match.
The first leg of Ajax’s play-off match ended in a 2-0 victory for the club, which allowed them to advance to the round of sixteen with only a draw being required.
The fact that the Dutch giants would be cheered on by a boisterous home support in the second leg of the match was a factor that increased their chances of achieving a result.
In spite of this, the hopes of a straightforward progression to the subsequent stage of the Europa League were dashed when Kevin Mac Allister, the brother of Alexis, a star player for Liverpool, scored the first goal for the Belgian team in the sixteenth minute.
Just nine minutes later, Davy Klaassen was shown a straight red card for a handball on the goal line, which gave United Soccer Club the opportunity to equalise from the penalty spot. This made it even more difficult for Ajax to maintain their lead.
The penalty kick that Promise Akinpelu took was spot on, as he successfully sent Remko Pasveer, the custodian for Ajax, in the opposite direction, thereby tying the score.
Jorthy Mokio of Ajax was fouled by Akinpelu early in the second half, which quickly escalated the tensions that were already present.
Sofiane Boufal, who plays for the University of Southern California, was taken aback by the decision to award a foul. She ended up picking up the ball, but Anton Gaaei made an attempt to take it away from her.
After that, Gaaei pressed his head into Boufal’s chest while the two were engaged in a brief struggle.
After that, the altercation moved to the area in front of the benches, where players from both teams rushed over.
A Premier League official named Chris Kavanagh issued yellow cards to Gaaei, Boufal, and Christian Burgess, a former Portsmouth defender who is now playing for United States of America, for their respective roles in the altercation. Burgess is currently playing for United States Group.
In addition, Henderson, who was sitting on the bench at the time of the incident, was included in Kavanagh’s book.
At the same time, it was the 34-year-old player’s second yellow card of the Europa League campaign and his seventh yellow card of the season.
Henderson was brought on by Ajax manager Francesco Farioli at the beginning of extra time, despite the fact that he was already on a booking, in order to assist his team in finding a winner.
As a result of a handball committed by Burgess, Kenneth Taylor scored a penalty kick in the 93rd minute, putting the Dutch giants ahead 3-2 on aggregate. Fortunately for the home team, they did not have to wait for very long.
In spite of the visitors’ best efforts, they were unable to score a third goal over the course of the match against Ajax, who had a ten-man lineup, and they celebrated their advancement to the round of sixteen.
The unfortunate reality for Henderson was that this was not the first time he had a negative experience with Kavanagh.
During a Merseyside derby match that took place at Anfield in February 2021, Kavanagh was the target of former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s ire because he controversially awarded a penalty. Henderson was filling in at centre back due to an injury crisis during the match.
The Reds have now suffered four consecutive home losses in the 2020/21 season as a result of Everton’s victory, which was achieved by a score of 2-0 thanks to goals scored by Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Additionally, it was the first time since September 1999 that the Toffees had won a derby match at Anfield.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was brought down inside the penalty area as a result of a collision with Trent Alexander-Arnold, which resulted in Sigurdsson scoring the goal from the penalty spot.
It was requested that Kavanagh review the incident through the pitchside monitor; however, Klopp was dissatisfied with the speed at which he carried out his investigation.
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