SALAH COURTS CONTROVERSY
Liverpool star in diving storm as Reds win at Palace
MOHAMED Salah was engulfed in a diving storm as the Liverpool star won the controversial penalty that inspired their 2-0 win over 10-man Crystal Palace on Monday.
Salah was accused of diving by Palace when he tumbled in the penalty area late in the first half at Selhurst Park.
Referee Michael Oliver awarded a spot-kick for Mamadou Sakho’s challenge on the Egypt winger and James Milner converted the penalty.
Salah has previous for diving and incensed Palace fans were quick to aim “cheat” chants at him, but there appeared just enough contact to warrant the spot-kick.
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, working for Sky Sports, claimed it was a dive, saying: “A lot of people won’t like it. If it’s against you, you’ll think it’s soft. It is a theatrical fall which we’ve seen a lot of players do.”
Adding insult to injury for Palace, Aaron Wan-Bissaka was sent off in the second half for bringing down Salah as he raced clear.
Taking advantage of their nu- merical superiority, Jurgen Klopp’s side made sure of extending their 100 per cent start to the Premier League season thanks to Sadio Mane’s goal in stoppagetime.
Palace boss Roy Hodgson was furious with the penalty, saying: “My frustration is I don’t think that’s a penalty. It’s cause for anger and disappointment. I’ve been in football a long time. If that’s a penalty the game has changed beyond all recognition.
“Sakho is a defender and he has to try and defend. There is no way he is looking to foul the player. Liverpool didn’t deserve to be leading.”
Klopp side-stepped the diving row, claiming he hadn’t seen the incident clearly.
“I didn’t ask Mo about that. I didn’t see it. It looked like it was (a penalty), but I have no idea,” he said.
Palace captain Luka Milivojevic said he had asked Salah to tell Oliver he should reverse his decision to award a penalty but Salah refused.
Milivojevic — who is Palace’s go to man for taking penalties — has no doubt that Oliver was fooled into awarding the penalty.
“I told him (Salah) ‘Say to the referee it’s not a penalty’,” said Milivojevic who played for his country at the World Cup finals.
“But he said it was. From his point of view it was a penalty.
“It was not a penalty. During the game that was my opinion and after the game when I saw the image, Mama tried to touch the ball, he did not touch the ball and in my opinion he did not touch the man.”
After Manchester City’s swaggering demolition of Huddersfield on Sunday, it was important for Liverpool to keep pace with the champions, even at this early stage of the season.
But Klopp refused to talk up Liverpool’s title chances.
“I am not interested in sending statements to Manchester City or anyone else. I want to win football games,” he said. “I couldn’t care less really. We are not in a race with other Premier League teams each weekend.”
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s German goalkeeper Loris Karius, whose fumbles were widely blamed for the defeat of his side in the Champions League final, is to join Istanbul giants Besiktas on a two-year loan deal, Turkish reports said on Monday.