Former Premier League official Keith Hackett has delivered his verdict on the penalty won by Mohamed Salah against Newcastle United on Wednesday.
The Egyptian was awarded a spot kick early in the second half, which he converted, in the Reds’ 4-0 win at Anfield, and Hackett has given his opinion on the incident.
“No, it wasn’t a penalty for me,” he told talkSPORT. “What really concerns me is the inconsistency that we see from referees on incidents inside the penalty area. We see defenders grabbing, hauling, tugging and grappling and we see that go unpunished week-in, week-out.
“We’re talking about a contact sport and there’s no way I’m going to buy it. It’s easy to give a penalty kick at Anfield and yes there is contact, but if I was in the middle I would want to be 100 per cent certain that I’m giving the home team a penalty kick that is worthy of one, and it would have to be a little bit more than what I saw yesterday.”
OPINION
You’ve got to agree with Hackett here, really. In all honesty it was one of the softest penalty’s you’ll ever see. There was a light brush from Paul Dummett on Salah which, while not particularly wise from the Newcastle man, was never enough to send the former Roma man tumbling to the ground. As Hackett says it’s a contact sport and that’s rapidly being eradicated from the game now. Refs can’t be giving every little touch as a spot-kick because penalties affect games too much for them to be handed out willy-nilly. Perhaps it was the pressure of being in front of the Anfield crowd which got to the official, but the referee has to remain impartial and base his decision on what he sees. Salah went down under contact, yes, but it was the most minuscule contact you’ll ever see on a football pitch. He made the most of it, as he would do, and the decision was made. However, you will definitely being feeling aggrieved if you’re a Newcastle fan.