Who’d be a referee?
Liverpool did not get off to the start they had hoped for against Crystal Palace in this afternoon’s early kick off, as Luka Milivojević put the hosts ahead after 13 minutes from the spot.
Liverpool then poured men forward in a bid to level the score before the break. Sadio Mané found himself at the byline, inside Palace’s penalty area. He then executed a perfect turn, creating space for himself, space that James McArthur slid through and appeared to take him down. However, referee Neil Swarbrick judged Mané to have dived.
As replays show, he seems to have made the right call, as there was minimal contact on the Liverpool winger.
We’d love to show footage, but Premier League rules mean we’re not allowed to show video footage of the incident.
Mané pulls of a skilful Cruyff turn.
McArthur’s trailing leg (maybe) makes contact with the Liverpool forward’s foot.
Mané goes down theatrically, and is duly punished.
Come on, mate.
Incidents like this remind us of the tough job referees have, especially when more players are going to ground this easily in an attempt to deceive the referee.
Thankfully this time, Swarbrick was on top form and spotted the dive.
