The young attacker was perhaps fortunate to be still on the pitch after mixing it up with Federico Fernandez near the end of the game.

After a difficult first half of the season, earlier today, Liverpool concluded 2014 with a resounding 4-1 win over Swansea City at Anfield.

A brace from Adam Lallana followed a goal from Alberto Moreno, and the Reds' win was capped off by an embarrassing own goal by Jonjo Shelvey.

It was a much-needed three points for Brendan Rodgers and his team as last season's Premier League runners-up have found things tough as they struggle to even stay in the top half of the league table.

Often criticized striker Mario Balotelli has now finished the first part of the season sans a single league goal for his new side, but that was not one of the major talking points of the game.

Rather, it was Raheem Sterling. The young attacker was involved in a spat with Swansea's Federico Fernandez late into the match, and while it is not unusual for players to be mixing it up, he just so happened to hit his opponent right in front of the match official!

Sterling not only was not shown a straight red, but in fact, received no warning whatsoever from the referee, which perplexed neutrals and infuriated some, especially Arsenal fans because Olivier Giroud was given his marching orders after headbutting his opponent in their 2-1 win over QPR.

Check out some of the reactions to the Sterling incident...and the game overall below: