Former Premier League ref Mark Halsey believes Rodri was fortunate to avoid red in Manchester City's victory over Liverpool.

At 0-0, Rodri was booked for a cynical challenge on Liverpool striker Diogo Jota, and then just seconds later he pulled back Cody Gakpo with both arms.

Liverpool's players surrounded ref Simon Hooper demanding a red, but Rodri escaped with just a stern talking to.

Halsey told The Sun: "Rodri can count himself lucky Simon Hooper chose to referee the game in a lenient way because on another day his first half challenge on Cody Gakpo could have resulted in him getting a second yellow card for denying a promising attack.

"There were a few players who could have received yellow cards but the referee was consistent in the way he dealt with careless challenges.

"Fabinho got away with a couple of early challenges and Trent Alexander-Arnold might also have been booked on another day.

"It will be interesting to see if Liverpool get charged with failing to control their players immediately after the Rodri incident."