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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Mark Wakefield

'He simply has to' - Referee accused of falling for Aleksandar Mitrovic dive during Liverpool draw

Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has been accused of “diving” during the draw with Liverpool in the Premier League.

The Reds were held to a 2-2 draw in the early kick-off at Craven Cottage, dropping points early on in the title race. Second half goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah helped earn a point in West London.

Both of Fulham’s goals came from Mitrovic, one in each half, with his second coming from the penalty spot. The home side were awarded a spot-kick after Virgil van Dijk was deemed to have fouled Mitrovic in the box by referee Andy Madley.

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Former Chelsea star Andy Townsend was commentating on the game at Craven Cottage and has given his verdict on the penalty decision. Townsend believes that while Van Dijk may not have defended well, he has made a “dive” claim about Mitrovic.

“I saw Van Dijk say to the referee, ‘no chance’ and it looked like Mitrovic went down a little easily, for me,” Townsend told Talksport .

“Does he offer out a leg towards Van Dijk? I’m not sure he touches him, but either way it’s not good defending.

“I didn’t see a lot of contact and if there’s no contract you can’t give it.

“It looks like a dive to me. He hasn’t touched him.

“The referee has got to have a look at the monitor there. If there is serious doubt over whether that was a penalty, he simply has to look at the monitor.

“It’s a contentious pen, I didn’t see a lot of contact.

“I’d love to hear the talk between the refs. We should be capable of that. Nobody in this ground had a clue what was happening, so we should be doing it.”

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