Instead of apologising for this tackle on Mo Salah, Vincent Kompany has described it as a ‘great challenge’.
The Belgian was speaking after the game, which Manchester City won 2-1 at the Etihad thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero and Leroy Sane, either side of a Roberto Firmino header.
A pivotal moment though came before a goal was scored and Salah was potentially through, only for him to be scythed down with an off the ground scissor challenge by Kompany – which you can see here.
“I thought it was a great challenge. Was it not? All right,” Kompany told Sky Sports, live.
“On the pitch I felt I got the ball, a bit of the man, but it wasn’t naughty. I didn’t try to injure him, that’s for sure.
“It was that or let him go through on goal and the decision was made very quickly in my head.”
We’ve always had a lot of time for Kompany, and can only assume he’ll feel a little silly about these remarks after seeing the tackle back.
What’s important is that Salah wasn’t injured, as our Egyptian being absent for some length of time would likely derail our title challenge.
Liverpool now have an FA Cup fixture away to Wolves that we must navigate, before taking on Brighton in the Premier League.