Ajax booked their place in the Round of 16 in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Just needing a draw, the Dutch club were involved in a contest more entertaining than they would have wanted as they would trail Union Saint-Gilloise 2-0 after full-time.
Ajax would grab a goal in extra time to send them through to the next round, but that was not the main talking point of the game as there was a spat between both sides in the second 45 minutes.
Tensions soon boiled over when USG’s Promise Akinpelu fouled Ajax’s Jorthy Mokio. Sofiane Boufal was left surprised at the decision to award a foul and picked up the ball, only for Anton Gaaei to try and snatch it from his hands.
Gaaei then pushed his head into Boufal’s chest as the two briefly grappled, which led to former Liverpool star Jordan Henderson becoming involved.
Ajax star Jordan Henderson involved in spat with Premier League referee
Henderson started the game on the bench for Ajax before being brought on for extra-time as the English midfielder has lost his place in Francesco Farioli’s team.
It has been an interesting time in the former Liverpool star’s career as Henderson tried to leave Ajax in January for Monaco, which led to criticism from Wesley Sneijder.
During last night’s contest with USG, the midfielder moved in the direction of Boufal during the spat but was forcefully shoved back by a member of the Belgian opponent’s team.
Henderson was then spotted gesturing with his hand as if to say his rivals talk too much and his involvement saw him pick up a yellow card.
Premier League referee Chris Kavanagh handed Henderson his seventh yellow card of the season and the second of Ajax’s Europa League campaign.
Kavanagh is an official Liverpool fans know well after a major incident last season and he has even annoyed Virgil van Dijk at one point.
The time Chris Kavanagh annoyed Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk
One of the major talking points from the Premier League title race last season was Kavanagh’s decision to not award a penalty during Liverpool’s clash with Arsenal at Anfield after Martin Odegaard handled the ball in the Reds’ box.
“The game expects a penalty in this situation. I would agree,” said Referee’s chief Howard Webb would say in the aftermath of the incident via the BBC.
This season, the English official left Van Dijk annoyed with one incident during Liverpool’s match with Man City.
The Reds captain explained after the contest that the coin toss to decide which team started at which end of the pitch happened without him being present.
The Dutch defender told Sky Sports: “I was annoyed by the fact that he [referee Kavanagh] started the toss without me. I was busy with my mascot and obviously took a little bit of time, but he started the coin toss quite quickly, so I was a little bit annoyed by that because I think, just wait.”
Kavanagh also left Arne Slot unhappy with his display against Nottingham Forest last month, as the English official’s unfortunate issues with Liverpool-related stars continues.
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