Either the pundits (generally ex players) are biased (understandable) or they're a bit thick. It really doesn't take much thought to realise that the reason the rule about "endangering" a player was brought in to prevent a very serious injury. They may all say "My manager would shout at me if I pulled out of a challenge like Mane's" or "It's not like it was in my day" but they're missing the point completely. The fact is that Mane knew Ederson was there whether he looked at him or not. Ederson could not legally handle the ball because he was out of his area so he HAD to use his head. If Mane had known that he would be sent off, he would have been far less likely to go into the challenge with his foot at head height. If his manager had known he'd be sent off, he'd have had no right to blame Mane for not going in with his foot raised.
The rule is there to PROTECT PLAYERS FROM SERIOUS INJURY.
Ederson could have lost an eye, suffered a broken jaw/cheekbone or fractured skull. It could have ended his career. How would Mane feel about it then? Remember Petr Cech?
Once players, coaches, managers, commentators & pundits understand that such a challenge means an automatic red card, all the players will be safer & we won't have to put up with this shit any more.
Could be a while
