Bournemouth’s Adam Smith has described Mo Salah’s penalty miss in Liverpool’s defeat on Saturday as ‘justice’.
The spot kick was awarded following a VAR review which deemed the Cherries defender culpable of handball from a Diogo Jota header, only for the Egyptian forward to miss wildly from 12 yards as the Reds were beaten 1-0.
The 31-year-old right-back stuck the boot in further with his post-match assessment of the decision, believing that Jurgen Klopp’s side didn’t merit the penalty in the first place.
Speaking to BBC Radio Solent (via Bournemouth Daily Echo), Smith said: “It’s just justice, honestly. It’s what should have happened. They didn’t deserve to score that, so it’s nice that he missed it.”
He further claimed that Jordan Henderson and Andy Robertson thought it a ‘harsh’ decision upon viewing it on the big screen at the Vitality Stadium.
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His stance on the penalty call comes as no surprise, and it’s interesting that he spoke of two Liverpool players seemingly agreeing with him.
His arm was certainly raised and appeared to move slightly towards the ball, so it’s not hard to see why the spot kick was given.
While Smith’s comments about the subsequent miss being ‘nice’ and a deserved outcome might rankle with Reds supporters, the cold truth is that Klopp’s team simply didn’t do enough on the day to prevent defeat.
We still had an hour to respond after Philip Billing’s goal, being given a golden opportunity to do so with the penalty, but still came up short. We simply need to take it on the chin and focus on what lies ahead rather than lingering upon regrets from Saturday.
Hopefully, we can look forward to putting things right in a rather tricky set of upcoming fixtures.