Did Aké get away with a penalty shove on Mo Salah?

When I first saw the challenge of Nathan Aké on Mo Salah in the penalty box I did hold my breath. It was the first time when Aké had lost Salah, and he clearly felt that Salah had got away from him. The hands went out and they certainly shoved the Liverpool front man, but it would have been soft to give a penalty when the ball was speeding away from Salah.

Nathan Aké did everything he could to try and stop Mo Salah getting a shot in.

Looking at the video in slow motion though, I'd say Nathan was a bit lucky to get away with it. It was a penalty. When you think that handling and holding a player for a corner can often result n a penalty, this was more of a deliberate shove, and perhaps if Salah had been in a better shooting position the decision could have gone against Aké. Of course, the position of the player in the box should not make a difference, if it is a foul in the box, but with little chance of Salah being able to do anything before the ball would cross the goal line, the referee's decision was perhaps made a little easier.

AFCB fans will say no penalty and Liverpool fans will say it should have been a penalty. I wouldn't argue with that. But I am pleased it wasn't given at the time. AFCB were still hanging in the game at the time and it was only the next attack that gave Liverpool, the breathing space they needed at 2-0 to relax a bit.

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There was no time for AFCB to relax. Aké was perhaps a bit on edge after Salah had given him the slip and he will know a bit more about Mo Salah next time they come up against each other. While Aké could have given a penalty away he didn't and he will be aware of how close it can be to getting a yellow card for losing hold of such a talented striker. But having marked Salah for a game, he should be well warmed up for the likes of Jesse Lingard or Lukaku on Wednesday.

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