Arsene Wenger hits out at Fabinho "cheating" for Alexis Sanchez red card

Ex-Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has hit out at Liverpool midfielder Fabinho for "cheating" in order to get Inter Milan's Alexis Sanchez sent off in the Champions League.

The Chilean attacker picked up a yellow card in the first half of Wednesday's last-16 second leg for a high foot on Thiago Alcantara before an almost identical challenge on Fabinho later in the game.

Sanchez got a touch on the ball before catching Fabinho with his studs on the follow-through, and Wenger - who managed Sanchez for three-and-a-half years at Arsenal - believes that the decision was harsh.

Speaking to beIN Sports, the 72-year-old said: "Borderline between cheating and being clever. He was cheating, he made more of it. Maybe he had pain, he was touched by Sanchez. You cannot say it was completely fake.

"Maybe he could have got up quicker. It's one of those fouls - when it's one of your plays you say it's clever, when you're completely neutral like we're supposed to be you can say he could have made less of it. He didn't want to hurt him, he played first the ball."

Sanchez was sent off two minutes after Lautaro Martinez had opened the scoring at Anfield, but Liverpool still progressed to the quarter-finals 2-1 on aggregate.