Fuming pundit fires strongly-worded ‘cheating’ claim at Salah, Kane

Harry Kane

Danny Murphy believes the likes of Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah have perfected the art of simulation and are “cheating” to win their sides penalties.

Egyptian forward Salah threw himself to the ground after getting a kick on his ankle from Arthur Masuaku. The resulting penalty gave Liverpool a foot-hold in the game and helped them recover to claim a 2-1 win over West Ham. It did, however, draw a fierce rebuke from Graeme Souness.

Those comments have since drawn a strong defence from Jurgen Klopp, who pointed out the bruise on Salah’s ankle after the foul.

Questions were also asked of Kane after his role in Tottenham’s narrow win over Brighton.

As such, Murphy is less than happy at the dishonesty creeping into the game and says it should be stamped out.

“Callum Wilson, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, they all did it,” he told talkSPORT. “It’s something so many forwards do now which is using the inefficient refereeing and the rules to get penalties.

“I don’t want to see it. They’re all doing it, they’re all cheating, they’re all manipulating the referee – you can use what word you want.

 

“And it’s not going to stop, because you don’t get penalties if you don’t go down! Actually, the only way you’re going to stop it is if defenders stop doing stupid tackles. You can’t go in for a tackle in the box, you’ve just got to stand your ground.

“But why can’t referees have the intelligence and common sense to see through it? They can see they’ve over-exaggerated, they’ve overdone it, they’ve dived and after the event, delayed, they’ve thrown themselves to the ground – don’t give the penalties!”

 


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Crooks wants Henderson ‘to have a word’

Garth Crooks, meanwhile, says Jordan Henderson might just want to have a word with Salah about diving.

Jordan Henderson TEAMtalk

“I didn’t think it was a Liverpool penalty at the time and I still don’t,” Crooks said. “I have criticised Mohamed Salah in the past for going down in the box when not touched.

“I’ve no doubt contact was made by West Ham’s Arthur Masuaku but as far as contact sports go, that was no foul. However it’s the referee’s opinion that counts and Kevin Friend thought otherwise.

“Jordan Henderson played a captain’s part in pulling Liverpool through a difficult fixture against the Hammers on Saturday. It was Henderson’s controlled pass to Xherdan Shaqiri which resulted in Diogo Jota scoring Liverpool’s winner.

“I wonder if Henderson might have a gentle word with Salah to remind him that he has placed himself among the Liverpool greats – and not to spoil it with cheap nonsense like diving.”

 

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