Yossi attack was the lowest of the low

I’m sure I wasn’t the only person to vent my anger when Chelsea defender Jose Bosingwa put the boot into Yossi Benayoun at Anfield on Sunday. I even leapt off my chair when the Brazilian’s thuggish act marred the closing stages of a hard-fought Liverpool win.

England midfielder Frank Lampard correctly had his red card rescinded for a challenge on Xabi Alonso but I cannot believe that Bosingwa got off scot free. It happened right under the nose of linesman Mo Matadar. The irony is that Matadar is the highest ranked Asian assistant-referee in football, although unlike one JC reader this week, I don’t think it had anything to do with a conspiracy theory about the identity of the victim.

I wasn’t that surprised that ref Mike Riley missed it but do not understand how the Premier League let him off. If Bosingwa had made that challenge on the street he’d have been charged with ABH. To me, this sends out a message to Sunday morning and junior footballers that this type of behaviour is acceptable. Bosingwa was quick to apologise but is probably counting his lucky stars that he wasn’t handed a three-match ban. It was one of the worst things I have seen on a football pitch for some time. And Chelsea claim they don’t get the rub of the green with officials...

On the flipside, I was delighted to see Yossi make the kind of impact manager Rafa Benitez has been looking for. He certainly played a lead role after coming off the bench, livening up proceedings and setting up Fernando Torres for the second.