Ex-referee claims Liverpool star ‘gets away’ with ‘naughty’ on-pitch actions

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Keith Hackett has advised officials to keep an eye on Liverpool’s Sadio Mane, suggesting that the Senegalese international has something of a ‘naughty streak’ on the pitch at times.

The former Southampton star has attracted criticism for his prior challenge on Takehiro Tomiyasu in the club’s first meeting with Arsenal this term.

“He has a bit of a naughty streak in him and gets away with it. I’m sure of this,” the ex-PGMOL chief told Football Insider.

“In my day, we refereed the likes of Vinnie Jones and Lawrie Sanchez who had a certain reputation. Everybody’s eyes were focused on them. They would put in the harsh challenges.

“It is nothing new. Referees just need to be more aware of who the offenders are.”

The 29-year-old’s disciplinary record is far from disastrous, having picked up five yellow cards across the Premier League and Champions League.

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If we’re going to talk about our No.10’s behavior on the pitch, we’d argue that it’s important we also consider the lack of protection the forward has got from officials at various points in the season.

We’ve seen such treatment handed to Mo Salah with disturbing regularity, with referees seemingly reluctant to award the Egyptian international spot-kicks for offences in the box.

Realistically, the balance is far from being in favour of attackers as things currently stand and we’d hope to see this addressed in the English top-flight down the line.

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