Salah penalty should not have stood v Brighton: Ex-Ref

A refereeing debate has adopted Liverpool’s 3-0 FA Cup win over Brighton after an ex-official claimed Mo Salah’s penalty mustn’t have been awarded due to an earlier foul within the build-up.

The incident got here late on at Anfield when the 33-year-old Egypt worldwide received a spot-kick below strain contained in the field earlier than changing to make the scoreline snug.

Keith Hackett, the previous PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, instructed Soccer Insider that Stuart Attwell missed what he believed was a foul by Salah on Brighton’s Ferdi Kadioglu simply earlier than the penalty was awarded.

“There was a push by Salah on the sting of the penalty space. That was a foul, and that ought to have been penalised.”

Hackett’s level was that, if the sooner contact is given as a foul, the later penalty sequence by no means occurs, even when the foul inside the realm is obvious as soon as we get there.

“That was missed, after which he was fouled when being held contained in the penalty space, with the referee awarding a penalty kick.”

What was improper with Salah’s penalty choice?

Hackett’s argument is just not that Pascal Gross didn’t foul Salah, as a result of even the Soccer Insider report notes there was “completely no denying” that the Brighton midfielder introduced Liverpool’s winger down illegally.

As an alternative, the controversy declare hinges on whether or not Salah’s earlier contact on Kadioglu – described as a shove close to the sting of the field – ought to have stopped play earlier than the penalty second arrived.

With no VAR in operation at this stage of the FA Cup, Attwell had solely his on-field view and assistants to depend on, which is precisely why debates like this have a tendency to develop as soon as replays flow into.

Salah’s Brighton show nonetheless drove Liverpool’s win

No matter anybody thinks concerning the sequence, Liverpool had been already in command of the tie, and Salah’s general contribution was one of many largest causes we reached the fifth spherical.

Arne Slot has already framed Salah’s recreation in wider phrases than objectives, praising the Egypt worldwide’s defensive work after full-time, whereas Virgil van Dijk has additionally spoken publicly about Salah’s affect and management throughout the squad.

From a efficiency standpoint, the underlying numbers (by way of Sofascore) present why Brighton struggled to comprise him, as a result of our No.11 persistently carried the ball into harmful areas and created possibilities earlier than the penalty even grew to become a speaking level.

Salah vs Brighton

Minutes
77

Objectives
1

Assists
1

Key passes
4

Photographs (on track)
5 (2)

Dribbles (profitable)
4 (3)

Was fouled
3

Penalties received
1

Sofascore ranking
8.6

Salah has been judged towards his personal outrageous requirements for years, however this was the sort of full outing that underlines why he stays central to what we do, even when exterior noise tries to tug the main focus elsewhere.

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