Sky Sports pundit and Liverpool great Jamie Carragher has labeled his ex-teammate Steven Gerrard's red against Manchester United as a 'moment of madness'.
The Reds skipper was sent off almost immediately in the second half of his side's 2-1 loss at Anfield on Sunday for a stomp on Ander Herrera after coming on as a half-time sub.
"It was a moment of madness. There's no doubt - there would be frustration," Carragher said on Sky Sports.
"He's always been the man, the captain. There's never been a case where he's been out of the team and as soon as he's fit he goes straight back in the team.
"Watching the first time from the bench, he'd have been disappointed. Liverpool weren't playing well, they were losing but I think he'd have been watching players in his position, performing not great, and thinking 'Why am I not playing? Why am I not on that pitch?'
"Steven Gerrard is an emotional player - you see that in his career. He's taken teams I've played in into some unbelievable moments. There's no doubt being a local player, the emotion of these occasions, the frustration coming into this game, has contributed to the moment of madness.
"He's been injured, he's been out of the team, he could potentially have six games left in his Liverpool career. But it's a straight red there's no arguments with that. You can't do that on a football pitch, he's been rightly given his marching orders."
It's common knowledge that Gerrard is in his final year at Anfield and it was his final game against historic rivals United.
Unfortunately, he lasted less than a minute on the pitch before seeing red and will now miss Liverpool's next three games, including their FA Cup quarter-final replay with Blackburn Rovers.
