Mohamed Salah will not face any action from the FA for the alleged dive which led to Liverpool’s second goal in their 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle on Boxing Day.
Referee Graham Scott awarded the penalty two minutes into the second half after Salah appeared to have been pulled back as he dribbled into the box by Magpies left-back Paul Dummett. However, replays revealed that while there had been contact, it was in fact very minimal.
It’s understood that Salah’s theatrical reaction did not breach the threshold of “attempting to deceive the referee”.
If found guilty, Salah could have faced a two-match ban, which would rule him out of Liverpool’s decisive fixtures against Arsenal and Manchester City in the coming week.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez said the penalty was “soft” and “crucial”, but stopped short of labelling it a dive.
“The soft penalty in the game made the difference, we were in the game 1-0 at half-time, but when we conceded the second goal it was more difficult for us to react against a very good team.
“The second goal was crucial, it gave them more confidence and was more difficult for us, you have to take more risks, be more open then you make more mistakes and pay for that.”
Liverpool remain undefeated after 19 games – a Premier League club record – and stretched their lead over Tottenham to six points at the top of the table, with City tumbling into third after suffering their second successive defeat.
