In the 74th minute of the tenth stage of the Premier League between Liverpool and Tottenham, referee Anthony Taylor awarded the Reds a penalty after Ivory Serge Aurier's mistake against Senegalese Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah scored the winner.
"It was a right penalty," Mani explains. "I tried to put my feet between his foot and the ball. Serge Aurier was unlucky and luck stood by me."
The case confirmed by the assistant referee in the "mouse" chamber did not disagree with the validity of analysts and arbitration experts, but asserted that Mani seized it subtly and forced the defender to make a mistake.
BN Sports arbitration expert former international referee Jamal Sharif confirmed that Orrier made a clear mistake on Mani, and Taylor was in a good place and an ideal vision angle that allowed him to make the right decision without reference to the mouse at all.
Aurier goes to clear, Mane, instead of going for the ball, puts his leg in front of Aurier's kicking leg. |
Former Scottish international Andy Gray said: "There is no doubt that the penalty is right, and Mane managed to force Aurée, who was unlucky, to make a mistake in the penalty area."
Former Egyptian star and BN Sports analyst Mohamed Abu Trika said that Mani was able to cleverly snatch a penalty, while Orrier made a "naive" mistake on Mani.
Mani won the Man of the Match award with the following figures:
- Touch the ball 52 times, including nine times inside the box.
- Complete 26 passes out of 31 and create two chances.
- He hit twice, and two mistakes were made between them.