Owen: Mane refused to get a penalty against Chelsea because of Mohamed Salah!
The Englishman Michael Owen, the former Liverpool star, believes that the Senegalese international, Sadio Mane, the Reds' winger, refused to get a penalty kick in yesterday's match against Chelsea in the Premier League so that our Egyptian player Mohamed Salah would not pay it.
Liverpool fell in "Anfield" with a clear goal at the hands of Chelsea, in the match between the two teams yesterday evening, Thursday, in the twenty-ninth round of the English Premier League.
The match in the first half, with the arrival of the ninth minute, saw the interference of the Dane, Andreas Christensen, against Mane, inside the penalty area, but the Senegalese did not fall and tried to continue his quest to try to score a goal.
Owen believes that Mane did not fall because he knows that if Liverpool gets a penalty kick, it is Salah who will, in turn, take the kick, not the Senegalese, in light of Mo's desire to win the Golden Boot, where he is the top scorer in the Premier League.
Owen said in statements published by the British "Optus Sport" network:
"There was an occasion, as every Liverpool fan in the world thought it was a penalty kick. I couldn't believe Mane didn't fall."
He added:
"I am not defending it, but usually you see players in the offensive situation fall down, I just wonder what Mane was thinking I think he said, 'I'll try to score, because if I don't, Mohamed Salah will get another penalty."
Watch Mane's chance in the Liverpool and Chelsea match
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And he continued:
"We all know how competitive attacking players are, we all know how selfish the attackers are. Salah and Mane have been competing for the Golden Boot in the past two seasons."
And follow:
"In my opinion, I think Mane refused to fall and said (This is my chance to score), there is a natural rivalry between Mani and Mohamed Salah, but we saw them not passing the balls to each other when one of them is in a completely better position than the other."
And he went:
"We are talking about selfishness and being a little upset. We saw Salah shaking his head when he was replaced. We know how much they want to win the Golden Boot."
He concluded his remarks, saying:
"We saw it happen against Sheffield United, so what's happening makes me think for a while."