Fulham star claims ref told team-mate Liverpool penalty WASN’T a spotkick as fans fume at Nunez ‘dive’
FULHAM star Tom Cairney claims that referee Stuart Attwell admitted that he’d botched Liverpool’s penalty decision last night.
The Reds beat the West Londoners 1-0 courtesy of Mo Salah’s 39th minute spot kick at Anfield.
The penalty was awarded after Darwin Nunez nicked the ball from dallying defender Issa Diop, although replays showed that contact was minimal.
After the match, Cairney fumed: “I thought we played very well at times, but to lose to a penalty that wasn’t a penalty is always a kick in the you-know-whats.
“At the time, I wasn’t sure. The ref made a decision, I thought he’d seen contact. I asked him on the pitch, ‘please just make sure they check it.’
“He said they checked it, but he said second half to one of our players that it wasn’t a penalty, so it’s frustrating because it goes to other people to make the correct decision.
“Issa Diop hasn’t touched him, Nunez has taken another step and then gone over, and then you lose to something like that at Anfield which is frustrating when we’re trying to climb as high as we can.”
The incident also enraged Fulham fans online.
One wrote: “That’s painfully awful by Diop but also a dive by Nunez.”
While a second fumed: “There was no contact!”
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A third tweeted: “Issa Diop vs Darwin Nunez is the ultimate battle of the chaos footballers.”
And a fourth huffed: “There’s absolutely ZERO contact from Diop on Nunez. How on earth are they giving penalties now when there’s no contact?”
Another added: “How is that a penalty for Liverpool against Fulham. Diop didn’t touch Darwin Nunez. They didn’t even need VAR to check that. This league man.”
The result saw Liverpool climb to within four points of fourth-placed Manchester United, albeit having played two games more.
Fulham, meanwhile, stayed tenth – but slipped to five points behind ninth-placed Brentford.
‘IT IS EMBARRASSING’
After the match, Cottagers boss Marco Silva blasted the penalty decision as “embarrassing”.
He told the BBC: “When you lose a game in football to that penalty, is embarrassing.
“When you have the referee, then the VAR to help the referee, it is embarrassing.
“I didn’t speak with the referee. I think my players and everyone that is honest will say the same.
“I will listen over the next few days if it is a harsh decision but for me it is clearly not a penalty. The player is already in the air.”