BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks has slammed Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp for criticising the referee following his side’s win at Crystal Palace.
The Reds came from behind to win 2-1 at Selhurst Park, with the in-form Mohamed Salah firing home the winner, six minutes from time.
Sadio Mane netted the equaliser just after half-time but the Senegalese attacker endured a controversial afternoon at Selhurst Park.
Mane was booked for diving in the first-half when he went to the ground a split-second late after Palace midfielder James McCarthy appeared to have little contact with his ankle. The Liverpool forward was lucky to be on the pitch after the referee didn’t send him off for handball later in the game.
Klopp was critical of referee Neil Swarbrick for not awarding his side a penalty but Crooks has hit out at the Liverpool manager, explaining that the German had no right to ask for a spot-kick.
“For an hour Sadio Mane terrified Crystal Palace. But how Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had the brass neck to even suggest the striker deserved a penalty after James McArthur appeared to make contact in the box I have no idea,” Crooks wrote in his column for BBC while picking his team of the week.
“How many more times do I have to say this? Contact in the box doesn’t automatically mean it’s a penalty. A foul does.
“The delay between the contact being made by McArthur and Mane going to ground was clearly evident and destroyed whatever claim Liverpool could have made.
“Referee Neil Swarbrick then gave Mane the benefit of the doubt by not issuing a second yellow card for Mane grabbing the ball. And Klopp had the temerity to criticise the referee in his post-match interview for not awarding Liverpool a penalty?
“Mane was lucky to be on the pitch at all. As for Klopp he should just have said thank you and gone on his way.”
It was an eventful afternoon at Selhurst Park for Mane as he scored the equaliser before escaping a second booking for handball. The Senegal international was booked for simulation and that happened as he took a split-second extra to go down following the touch on his ankle by James McCarthy.
However, Liverpool won 2-1 as we took a big step towards securing a top-four place this season. The win at Palace was the perfect tonic that geared up the Reds ahead of the quarter-final clash with Manchester City at Anfield in the Champions League on Wednesday.
