MOHAMED SALAH has once again been accused of diving, although replays show there was contact on the Egyptian. Liverpool beat Brighton 1-0 at The Amex Stadium thanks to a second half Salah penalty with Jurgen Klopp’s men once again going seven points clear at the top of the league. 5 Gross made the contact on Salah 5 Fans were quick to accuse Salah of simulation Salah won the penalty after midfielder Pascal Gross was adjudged to have taken a swipe at the forward’s leg which prompted the Liverpool man to go down. The African Player of The Year came under scrutiny last month when it seemed he dived against Newcastle. Fans were quick to accuse Salah of simulation once again with some suggesting the player slipped over, while one tweeted saw two divers hold up a Salah shirt. One said: “Ha ha cartoon slip up same old Salah always cheating." Another said: "Ridiculous dive... haven’t the last 2 Liverpool wins come from Salah cheating?” Liverpool star Mohamed Salah facing Arsenal and Man City ban after Newcastle ‘dive’ 5 Liverpool won the game 2-0 Credit: EPA 5 They remain top of the league Credit: Getty Images - Getty “Salah didn’t dive” ahahahah give it a rest pic.twitter.com/YWtYAHVIAH — Everton Designs (@EvertonDesigns) January 12, 2019 Salah's shirt has been found after his latest dive pic.twitter.com/aGSJ1hXOoL — colin n (@colMCFC1) January 12, 2019 Ridiculous dive... haven’t the last 2 Liverpool wins come from Salah cheating? — Adam Sinclair (@avs_29) January 12, 2019 🙈 Premier League officials when Mo Salah is awarded a penalty...#BRILIV pic.twitter.com/9WJ35BcEdZ — The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) January 12, 2019 However, some fans were quick to come to Salah’s defence, as they pointed out the contact Gross made. One said: “People actually think this wasn’t a penalty. Clear contact, just drop your agendas.” Another said: “I don't know why rival fans are crying about Salah's penalty. “Every single player goes for penalty when gets contact in the box. Salah got contact and earned clear penalty.” 5 It was Salah's third league goal from the spot Credit: PA:Press Association<doc-sep>Mohamed Salah netted a penalty that he won himself at Brighton. Liverpool moved seven points clear at the top of the Premier League with a hard-fought 1-0 away win at Brighton. Jurgen Klopp's side did not manage a shot on target in the first half, but were ahead early in the second after Pascal Gross fouled Mohamed Salah in the area and the Egyptian fired in the spot-kick. Some fans on social media claimed the winger have 'dived' to win the penalty: But it seemed fairly obvious that the African Player of the Year had, in fact had his shirt pulled: Waiting for idiot rival fans to call this a dive 😂😂😂. So jealous that they don't have a player like Salah. Won't see a clearer pen all season. #BHALIV #LFC #Salah #Pen pic.twitter.com/iY7xhSO4wK — Tom W🔴🔴 (@Valiant_Virgil) January 12, 2019 Victory extended Liverpool's advantage at the summit ahead of third-placed Tottenham's match with Manchester United on Sunday and second-placed Manchester City's meeting with Wolves on Monday. United will start their match with their eye on fifth place after Arsenal slumped to a 1-0 defeat at West Ham in the lunch-time kick-off. Declan Rice scored his first career goal to settle the contest in favour of Manuel Pellegrini's side. Burnley recorded a fourth straight win in all competitions despite not having a shot on target as they came from behind to beat Fulham 2-1 courtesy of a pair of own goals at Turf Moor. Andre Schurrle fired Fulham ahead just two minutes in with a stunning strike which crashed in off the underside of the crossbar. But, just after Chris Wood had struck a post for the hosts, they were level in the 20th minute when Jeff Hendrick's shot deflected off Joe Bryan to find the net. And three minutes later they were ahead as another Hendrick shot this time deflected off Denis Odoi to beat Sergio Rico. Watford struck a post twice in the opening five minutes against Crystal Palace and their failure to score looked like costing them dear seven minutes before the break when a goalmouth scramble ended with a Craig Cathcart own goal. But Cathcart made amends in the 67th minute when he scored at the other end to level and seven minutes later Tom Cleverley smashed a loose ball into the top corner to set Watford on their way to a 2-1 victory. Southampton climbed out of the drop zone as they hung on for a 2-1 away win at Leicester. James Ward-Prowse put the Saints ahead from the penalty spot in the 11th minute after Shane Long was brought down by Nampalys Mendy. The Foxes were handed a lifeline when Southampton defender Yan Valery was sent off shortly before the break, collecting his second yellow card after jumping in on Mark Albrighton. But in first-half stoppage time Long made it 2-0 to Saints after pressuring Mendy and firing beyond Kasper Schmeichel. Wilfried Ndidi got Leicester back in it just before the hour mark, bundling home from close range, but Southampton saw the game out. It finished goalless between Cardiff and Huddersfield, with Huddersfield angered late on when referee Lee Mason initially awarded a penalty for a foul on Florent Hadergjonaj, only to change his mind after talking to his assistant.<doc-sep>Jürgen Klopp proved far more defiant than Arsenal’s defence as, rather than revelling in a biggest league win over top-six peers for 16 months and Liverpool’s largest lead in this season’s title race, he rejected suggestions Mohamed Salah is a diver by insisting the striker should not have to bleed to win a penalty. Liverpool’s top scorer struck from 12 yards after Sokratis Papastathopoulos twice clipped his calves but, after the half-time whistle blew, the Arsenal defender confronted Salah to accuse him of taking a tumble. Some 90 minutes before Klopp intervened to protect Salah, so did Virgil van Dijk during an altercation in the tunnel. “He went to Mo and was saying he dived,” the Dutchman said. “He was attacking him a bit but I wanted to say he didn’t dive.” Nevertheless, the reigning footballer of the year risks getting the wrong kind of tag. This was the second time in four days when opponents felt Salah exaggerated contact. Rafael Benítez bemoaned what he termed a “soft penalty” after Newcastle’s Paul Dummett tugged Salah, while his Burnley counterpart, Sean Dyche, inserted himself into the argument to describe as “bizarre” the FA’s decision not to issue the forward with a retrospective ban for supposedly diving on Boxing Day. The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email. But, on a day when Tottenham’s Harry Kane was cautioned for simulation and after Dejan Lovren earned Liverpool’s third penalty of the week when he was shoved by Sead Kolasinac, Klopp was adamant neither Salah nor his teammates deserve a reputation for diving. The Liverpool manager does not consume much of the media but is an avid viewer of shows where former referees assess decisions their successors make and he believes they support his case. He explained: “Dermot Gallagher said [after Newcastle], ‘penalty.’ His [Dummett’s] arm was there. Do we need blood for a proper penalty? I think no. “In that moment, if you don’t touch Mo and he makes the next step and shoots – and we know he’s pretty good at that …,” he mused. “I haven’t seen it back [with Papastathopoulos] and I have no clue about what happened but the ref really was close to it. We don’t have divers and that was not a dive. The other one is not a dive. The ref decides it. In the three and a half years, we have had more penalties not given when they were penalties and you think, ‘hmph, hmph, hmph.’” Mohamed Salah falls to the ground after a challenge by Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos. Photograph: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images If Salah’s character is being impugned, Xherdan Shaqiri expects Liverpool to come under a different kind of attack when they visit Manchester City on Thursday. The champions will host their putative replacements but the midfielder believes Liverpool’s position at the division’s summit will make them a target. “If you are top of the table, everybody is coming after you and everybody wants to beat you,” the summer signing said. “They’re going to come after us and will try to win, to grab three points.” If the stakes seem bigger than that, Shaqiri denied a Liverpool victory would end City’s defence of their crown. “We don’t go there to take Man City out of the race, we go there for a game,” he said. “Everything can happen this season but it’s a long way to go.” That measured attitude was reflected elsewhere at Anfield. While Klopp punched the air at the final whistle, it was without his usual exuberance. He was restrained in his rhetoric. “Sport is a season,” he rationalised. “We really only celebrate things when the season is over. After the game in the dressing room [with] what I say, it didn’t sound like we won the game. Then at the end, ‘… and congratulations by the way, brilliant performance!’” If Salah had a typical prominence and Roberto Firmino’s first Liverpool hat-trick made him the headline act, it invited questions if Georginio Wijnaldum, arguably Liverpool’s finest performer on the day, would again be overlooked. “Under your radar,” Klopp said. “He’s an outstanding player. He combines a lot of things that you need. In a one-and-one situation, he can keep the body between the opponent and the ball, then pass the ball. I don’t know how many positions he’s played. He can play all three positions in midfield and that’s really nice.” Like Shaqiri and Andrew Robertson, Wijnaldum joined Liverpool from a relegated club. Their fortunes have been transformed in an upwardly mobile team. If Wijnaldum, with 25 appearances and 2,224 minutes on the pitch, has been the constant in a midfield furnished with expensive upgrades, other numbers are startling. Liverpool had not trailed at Anfield in the Premier League for 364 days until Ainsley Maitland-Niles scored and even then, they were behind for only three minutes. Their 2018 yielded 88 points from 37 matches, a return of 2.38 per game that is unrivalled in the club’s history. Salah completed the calendar year with 25 goals at home, Alisson with conceding the same number – five – in his Anfield career for Liverpool as on his solitary visit with Roma. “We have finished 2018 pretty well,” Van Dijk said. It ranks as an understatement.<doc-sep>
Liverpool extended their lead at the summit of the Premier League table to seven points after Mo Salah’s penalty saw Jurgen Klopp’s men carve out a narrow, yet controversial, 1-0 victory at Brighton. The Seagulls, and no doubt Man City and Tottenham too, were left fuming at the referee’s decision to award a penalty to Liverpool five minutes after the break after Pascal Gross was alleged to have brought down Salah. Gross was tussling with the Liverpool star, and as he attempted to win the ball he placed his arm on the forward’s shoulder and then appeared to clumsily wipe him out from the back, with Salah subsequently going down in the penalty box. The Liverpool star, who recently hit the headlines after winning penalties against Newcastle and Arsenal, stepped up to the plate and blasted his penalty into the top right corner, as he registered his seventh goal in his last seven Premier League games. As you’d expect, the incident has caused quite a stir on Twitter, with many quick to label Salah a ‘diver’ while others rushed to his defence. It's certainly a huge talking point, especially given the narrow margin of victory down at the Amex. Unfortunately, we’re not allowed to show the actual video footage, but you can get a picture for yourself from the attached screenshots. Meanwhile, here's some of the reaction from social media... Another dive from Salah (@Lipsy198) There was contact but that's some exaggerated dive by Salah. (@falsewinger) The fact Salah didn’t get banned for the last exaggerated dive and has just done another carbon copy against Brighton is beyond a joke . Ref needs his betting account checked as he’s 100% cheated there (@EvertonCanada) Another weekend, another penalty awarded for a Salah dive. The ref wouldn’t dare book him for diving. The Premier league and media darling of Liverpool. (@ReeceDaviesSWFC) Brighton fans chanting '1-0 to the referee' after the clear penalty on Salah earlier that won the game for Liverpool, quite the scenes that make the Premier League so special. (@MHChehade) Waiting for idiot rival fans to call this a dive . So jealous that they don't have a player like Salah. Won't see a clearer pen all season (@ThomaswPm) if anyone thinks that was a dive by #Salah they need glasses, he clearly pulled his shirt (@Robbielfc74) Liverpool penalty.. Mo Salah brought down..Imminent incoming of Spurs fans claiming he dived (@da_judge)