The Newcastle United defender escaped unpunished after bringing down Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.
Newcastle United defender Jamaal Lascelles should have seen red for his challenge on Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah during Saturday’s meeting of the two teams at Anfield, according to former Premier League official Mark Halsey.
Salah went down under pressure from Lascelles as he bore down on goal in second half stoppage time, but despite appeals for a penalty to Liverpool – who were 2-0 up at the time – no foul was awarded by referee Graham Scott.
Lascelles has since protested his innocence, telling the Shields Gazette he got a touch on the ball before Salah’s tumble.
Speaking on this week’s episode of the Ref Show, however, Halsey did not appear to agree.
“When you’ve got an incident like that and you’ve got a forward in front of a defender, why is a player going to go down when he’s about to pull the trigger to score a goal? You’re saying to yourself [as a defender] don’t bring him down, if you bring him down it’s a red card – he’s off,” he said.
“Yes, he [Scott] was a little bit detached from play but I always used that scenario when I was a referee. Why is he going to go down?”
Nevertheless, Halsey whose views were shared by another former top flight ref Roger Dilkes – agreed that a penalty would not have been the correct decision.
He added: “There’s no contact inside the box. He goes down inside the box, but it should have been a free-kick and a red card.”
Scott’s failure to award a spot-kick particularly rankled with those of a Liverpool persuasion, knowing that had Salah would be denied a chance to become the Premier League’s outright top goalscorer.
Instead, the Egyptian – who had already scored once in the win against Newcastle – remains tied with Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane on 24.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
