Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has moved to defend star man Mohamed Salah after the Egyptian was accused of diving to win a penalty against West Ham on Saturday.
The 28-year-old has come in for much criticism for his reaction to a challenge from Arthur Masuaku which brought about the equaliser in the Reds' 2-1 triumph over David Moyes' side, with the Hammers boss himself claiming Salah 'threw himself to the ground'.
However, Klopp has denied his star man dived to win the spot-kick and claims he doesn't understand why he's come under so much scrutiny for his role in the awarding of the penalty.
When asked his opinion on the matter, Klopp said via Liverpool's official website: “What can I say? It was a foul, it was pretty much for everybody who saw the situation.
"Believe it or not, yesterday morning I spoke to Mo about how he feels and he has exactly three proper knocks on the foot – and one of them is from the penalty situation. That’s how it is. There’s a knock, then you go down or not, whatever; sometimes the refs whistle it.
"We don’t talk that long about penalties we don’t get, to be honest, in other games. But obviously now two days after the game we talk about that. And there was clear contact. What can I say? No, I don’t understand the criticism."
Salah dusted himself off to confidently dispatch the resulting spot-kick, taking his Premier League tally for the season up to seven in as many games.
Since arriving at Liverpool in 2017, last season was the only campaign in which Salah hasn't finished as the Premier League's top scorer - missing out to Leicester's Jamie Vardy - though he's made a great start as he looks to notch yet another top-flight Golden Boot.
Source : 90min