COMMENT By Seye Omidiora
Follow on TwitterGaining an advantage through unfair means is generally frowned upon in all walks of life, and when it creeps into sport, it’s regarded as unseemly and distasteful.
What’s even more striking is how much of a target can be placed on the perpetrator’s back as every subsequent action or movement is doubted and second-guessed.
For Mohamed Salah, the aforementioned observation surely resonates considering the glut of faultfinding he’s been subjected to in recent weeks.
The festive period didn’t bring as much cheer on the pitch as he’d have liked owing to the severe criticism leveled at his door during, and in the aftermath of, Liverpool’s 4-0 Boxing Day success against Newcastle United at Anfield.
Moments after half-time, with the Reds still one goal in front against the Magpies at the time, the Egyptian hit the deck following what referee Graham Scott deemed a pullback by Paul Dummett.
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Roundly censured by a plethora of followers of the sport (excluding maybe fans of the Anfield club), that event was to serve as a precursor to similar incidents down the line.
Only three days later, with Jurgen Klopp’s charges facing Arsenal, the forward was embroiled in another controversial episode when he went down under the challenge of Gunners defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos. Predictably, criticism poured in, with naysayers claiming the Egypt international was developing a reputation for going to ground easily under minimal contact.
Just when the attacker might have thought he was out of the woods, due to a lack of contentious decisions going his way, last Saturday’s penalty win at Brighton & Hove Albion resurrected diving accusations after Salah was seemingly felled by Pascal Gross.
The Egyptian duly converted from the spot with consummate ease, but was subsequently on the receiving end of a crescendo of boos from a large percentage of home fans at the Amex.
The treatment of Liverpool’s top scorer led to left-back Andrew Robertson’s staunch defence of his teammate, tagging the assault on the player “unfair” and “desperate” because the award of the spot-kick against the Seagulls was “a stonewaller”. Virgil van Dijk had previously leapt to the forward’s protection after the Arsenal game as well.
The reaction among fans and media prompts the question of whether there’s an element of truth to these diving claims.
Frankly, of the aforementioned trio of incidents, only the decision against Rafael Benitez’s men can be questioned. Granted, the Welshman held Salah’s arm with the forward making inroads into the box, but the grip wasn’t in any way sustained and Scott made a hash of the award of the penalty. It was only 1-0 at the time too, which took the game away from the Toon Army just after the restart.
However, penalty calls by Michael Oliver and Kevin Friend against Arsenal and Brighton respectively were surely spot-on!
In the former, Sokratis had not one, but two, bites at Salah’s calf in a desperate attempt to prevent the forward from testing Bernd Leno from fairly point-blank range. Last weekend, Gross’ unbelievable schoolboy defending saw him not only hold onto Salah for what seemed like an eternity, but escalate to shirt tugging thereafter, before clipping the forward just as he was about to pull the trigger.
It’s amusing to think anyone would even believe Friend should’ve penalized the attacker when it was clearly a spot-kick all day long. In what world isn’t that, as well as the one against the Gunners, a penalty?
It just seems people are looking for a stick with which to beat the unassuming Egyptian.
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With all the nonsense that’s been said about him lately, it should be pointed out that the introduction of simulation suspensions at the start of last season makes it even harder to con referees.
While cheating may still be missed in-game, retrospective two-game bans can still be handed out to players who are unanimously found guilty by a three-man panel comprising a former manager, an ex-player and a retired referee. If Salah had indeed been trying to gain an unfair advantage by hitting the floor unashamedly, shouldn’t the player have been slapped with a retrospective ban already?
The introduction of video assistant referees from next season will also go a long way in clearing doubts about players’ integrity. In all fairness, while the system is also flawed, as decisions are at the official’s discretion, having the advantage of reviewing disputed calls is a welcome addition. It's also unlikely that Salah's penalties against Arsenal and Brighton would have been reversed if VAR was needed for clarification.
Recent events have threatened to sidetrack Liverpool in their title charge, but it’s imperative to stay switched on and not get distracted by anything that could sabotage their title ambitions.
Claiming their first ever Premier League title has to be priority and they’ve got to keep their eyes firmly fixed on the prize.
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