In just the 14th minute of this afternoon’s Premier League encounter between Liverpool and Newcastle, Reds ace Diogo Jota was forced to eat the kind of strike that even UFC fighters don’t have to often.
Once Fabinho cleared the ball off the line after the tricky Allan Saint-Maximin created a dangerous chance, which was later ruled offside, the ball was cleared up into the air.
Jota looked to be moving out the way of an aerial duel just as Newcastle centre-back Federico Fernandez came crashing in, delivering an elbow right into the face of the Liverpool forward.
The Portuguese star immediately crashed down to the floor whilst holding his face, VAR reviewed the incident but only deemed the reckless act worthy of a yellow card in a lucky moment for Fernandez.
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Pictures from BT Sport.
The BT Sport team commented on the incident at halftime as well, with the likes of towering former Reds and England star Peter Crouch surprised to see that this didn’t lead to a red card.