Michael Owen questions Sadio Mane about NOT diving to give Liverpool a penalty against Newcastle

Michael Owen was “amazed” that Liverpool striker Sadio Mane did not go down and tried to win a penalty when Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow appeared to hold him in the draw on Wednesday night.

The Premier League leaders lost two points at St. James’ Park, largely due to an excellent performance by Darlow.

But the Newcastle stopper was lucky enough to see referee Paul Tierney failing to award Liverpool a penalty 10 minutes from time when he grabbed Mane when he seemed certain he would score from just yards away.

The expert Michael Owen was “amazed” that Mane did not go down to win a penalty

Owen said that sometimes the players had to go down to make sure the referees had to make a call

This allowed defender Fabian Schar to come back and clear the ball off the line ensuring that Newcastle would take an unexpected point against the reigning champions.

Former Liverpool and Newcastle forward Owen, an expert on Amazon Prime, was taken aback by Mane failing to go down and trying to win a crucial penalty for his team.

Owen said: “I’m amazed that Mane didn’t scream and ask the referee why it wasn’t a penalty and I’m surprised he didn’t go down because he was clearly being grabbed by both arms.

‘One surely touches and the other grabs him. It is open to debate whether he might have tapped it without getting packed there.

“But in every situation you can’t grab someone’s legs and he has clearly grabbed his right leg there and prevented him from swinging it.

Liverpool seem sure to score but Darlow manage to play against Mane’s knee

The ball bounces off, but Mane still has a tip if he can get past Darlow to get to the ball

Darlow appears to grab Mane’s leg but the Liverpool forward isn’t trying to go down

Mane tries to climb over Darlow to get the ball, but the goalkeeper does just enough

Defender Fabian Schar can return and get the ball to safety in time

‘As center forward, most players try to make it clearer to the referee, which is why we were surprised he didn’t go down.

“We should also applaud the honesty. We see that so often this season the players go under when there is little or no touch. I think we should applaud them.”

“But I’m sure Jürgen Klopp would think tonight, if he went down, he can’t come out and say it, but I’m sure he thinks if he’d gone down we would have won a penalty there.

“It just goes to show that it is virtually impossible for a referee to impose a penalty if you don’t give up. I said it once and I will say it again, umpires don’t mind, in fact they prefer when you go down and it gives them a decision to make.

Jürgen Klopp’s team from Liverpool is three points ahead of the top of the table by 2020

“In this case, anyone can say whatever they want: ‘Oh yes, it should have been a penalty’, but there will be no referee.

“So it’s almost better for a referee if you go down and give him a decision.”

The goalless tie means Liverpool will have a three point lead at the top of the Premier League by the end of 2020, but runner-up Manchester United have a game in hand.

Liverpool are next in action when they visit Southampton on Monday night.