While Gerrard did not receive punishment from the match official or the FA for his rash tackle, he has incurred the wrath of the English media following the latest in a worrying line of on-field indiscretions from the Liverpool-born star.
Much of the scrutiny placed on Gerrard's tackle has come from comparisons with a similarly distasteful challenge from Arsenal's Ashley Cole against Leicester City defender Ben Thatcher on the same day.
According to Gerard Houllier, though, his young skipper has been harshly treated by pundits attempt to draw such a comparison between the two incidents.
Houllier said: "Stevie, because of who he is, is a bit like Patrick Vieira. When anything happens with him, it's taken out of all proportion. Stevie has not had a single booking this season. That is 20 games. No body from Newcastle complained about the tackle and the referee saw it.
"I think people have talked about it because of what happened with Ashley Cole, but there is nothing to compare the two. There is a difference because Stevie had one foot on the ground when he made the tackle. He won the ball and didn't hurt anyone."