Raheem Sterling has escaped retrospective punishment for his apparent slap on Swansea City's Federico Fernandez on Monday night.

The Liverpool forward appeared to swing his arm towards the face of the Swansea defender during the Reds' 4-1 Premier League triumph against their Welsh opponents.

No action was taken by the officials at the time, and the Football Association have also decided that no retrospective punishment will be handed out to the 20-year-old.

Liverpool's Raheem Sterling (right) swung an arm towards the face of Federico Fernandez (left) on Monday

The incident came during the closing stages of Liverpool's 4-1 Premier League win against Swansea

Sterling was described as 'lucky' by Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, after the Liverpool star was seen appearing to swing an arm towards the face of Fernandez.

After shielding the ball out for a goal kick from Sterling, Fernandez was bumped into the Kop by the 20-year-old - much to the annoyance of the Argentine.

The pair, who had been battling against each other throughout the game, confronted one another before Sterling was seen to aim a swing at Fernandez right in front of the linesman.

Sterling's indescrestion went unpunished by referee Andre Marriner and the makeshift forward was subseqeuntly replaced by boss Brendan Rodgers - with Mario Balotelli his replacement on 82 minutes.

It started after Sterling (right) barged Fernandez into the Kop stand during a tussle for the ball

Sterling's (right) nudge irked Fernandez (left) who put his hand around the back of his neck

The pair had to be separated by the linesman (centre) as they continue to exchange words

Sterling (right) was subsequently replaced by Liverpool for Mario Balotelli after the incident

Speaking post-match on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football show Neville said: 'He's [Sterling] a lucky boy. Cisse's been charged retrospectively today.

'I think the referee and the linesman have both seen this and Howard Webb said a few weeks ago that this is a sending off. Cisse will get a three-game ban for violent conduct but how are the referee and linesman going to give credibility where both can say they haven't seen these two incidents.

'It cannot happen where they say they haven't seen it so I think Sterling will get away with it because the referee can't put it in his report that he hasn't seen it. How he, the linesman, tomorrow, can write in his report that he didn't see it will mean that I think he will lose credibility, I really do.'

The mideamonour was the only blemish to an impressive performance by Sterling playing as the Reds' furthest forward.

Carragher added: 'I think he [Sterling] was lucky. Fernandez was tight and aggressive and earlier on in the night Sterling was frustrated with his tackling.

'He gives a push then Fernandez gives Sterling a clip with the left hand before Sterling throws his hand, it's not a punch, but we've seen people sent off for things like this.'

Victory for Liverpool moved them up to eighth in the table on 28 points after 19 games ahead of their clash against Leicester City on New Year's Day.