Gary Neville thought that Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin was justified to go down in the area v Liverpool last season, after jumping into Dejan Lovren during the Anfield Merseyside Derby.
“Lovren’s complaining at the end, he’s whinging at the referee but I always think if you give the referee a chance and he did, and it’s just those hands, and it’s naive from Lovren, it’s naive,” he said.
Thoughts, @Carra23? https://t.co/28jho7tbwr
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) April 22, 2019
If this was his opinion on all matters when it came to fouls in the penalty area, we’d find it strange considering he was a top-level defender who wasn’t afraid of physical contact – but could almost accept it.
But when you consider his reaction to the penalty Mo Salah won at the weekend – it’s utterly ridiculous.
“Salah has made the most of it he knows what he’s doing, never a penalty, it looks worse in slow motion,” Neville said.
The Egyptian was being manhandled by Sean Morrison, who fouled him about three times before the spot-kick was eventually given – but Neville had the cheek to start a rhetoric that Mo had dived – which was naturally pounced upon by Neil Warnock and rival fans afterwards.
The hypocrisy is crazy.
The Excellent Paul Tomkins agrees with us, thankfully!
Get in! Have to say, Gary Neville is the best pundit on TV, but his bias against Mo Salah was pretty shocking. Morrisson had 2 hands around Salah when Salah tried to turn one way, then another, then again – and ends with a forearm in Salah's neck. But Salah went down easy?! WTF?!
— Paul Tomkins (@paul_tomkins) April 21, 2019