He apologised for his tackle, before appearing to defend it
The friendly derby was not so friendly this time. In an empty Goodison Park, Everton and Liverpool played out a feisty 2-2 draw that saw Jordan Pickford escape punishment for a horror challenge on Virgil Van Dijk, Richarlison sent off for a horror challenge on Thiago Alcantara and a late Jordan Henderson winner ruled out by a horror offside decision courtesy of the VAR.
Richarlison’s tackle on Thiago was a particularly hot point of debate following the game, with many aggrieved Liverpool fans claiming he should be banned for a lengthy spell due to the dangerous nature of the tackle.
The Everton forward did apologise for the tackle following the game on Twitter, asking Thiago to forgive him.
Peço desculpas ao Thiago e aos meus companheiros pelo que aconteceu hoje. @Thiago6
.https://t.co/mGX28Y3Yhe— Richarlison Andrade (@richarlison97) October 17, 2020
But that wasn’t the end of it. He later responded to a tweet showing his apology next to a still image of the tackle, in which it looks as though Richarlison makes contact with Thiago while leading with his studs.
The Brazilian replied to this with a ‘thinking’ emoji and a different screengrab of the incident, which shows more knee-on-knee contact – appearing to defend the way he flew into the tackle.
This obviously attracted criticism from not only Liverpool fans, but everyone who saw the tackle for what it was.
Richarlison sensed the heat he was getting for this tweet and promptly deleted it.
His apology has since been labelled “hollow” by Liverpool fans, who claim his follow up shows that he did not mean his initial apology sincerely.
I didn't believe Richarlison apology for a second. He posted and deleted this earlier. It was a fake and hollow apology. pic.twitter.com/ZtxrUGGv4b
— Moby (@Mobyhaque1) October 17, 2020
It wasn’t the only apology that had to be made following the 2-2 draw wither. Jordan Pickford asked Jordan Henderson to pass Van Dijk an apology for the tackle that could see Liverpool’s best defender miss a large chunk of the season.
Liverpool expect to know more on Van Dijk’s injury later today after he has seen a consultant.
