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Former Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman saw a frustrated Jordan Henderson venting his anger at Mohamed Salah in their opening Premier League game against Fulham. The Reds failed to start the campaign with all three points as they drew 2-2 on their trip to Craven Cottage on Saturday, August 6.
It took Liverpool some time to warm-up as they were not at their best in the first-half. However, they turned up way sharper and more decisive for the second 45.
McManaman, who watched the game closely, spotted captain Henderson having a go at Salah for his misjudgement early on in the game.
There are not a lot of players on the planet right now who will dare question the Egyptian's decision to take a shot at goal. However, the Liverpool captain reminded the three-time Premier League golden boot winner of his mistake in the 21st minute.
Both Henderson and Luis Diaz were in a better position to attack Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross. However, Salah ignored the shout from his captain and got greedy. He tried to go for the goal with a header but could only slot it over the bar.
Underlining what he saw from the Liverpool skipper, McManaman said, via Rousing The Kop:
"You see Henderson. Henderson’s had a go at him. He’s shouted at Salah to leave it, he’s right behind him and so is Luis Diaz, better angles."
The Egypt international did eventually get on the scoresheet in the 80th minute to score the second equalizer for the Reds to restore parity at 2-2. He also made the Reds' first goal by crossing for new signing Darwin Nunez to finish.
Aleksandar Mitrovic was in fine form on his home turf and gave the Cottagers a deserved lead in the 32nd minute with a great header.
Nunez found the back of the net on his Premier League debut in the second-half to pull Liverpool back into the game after trailing 1-0. However, they conceded a goal against the run of play. Mitrovic won a soft penalty against Virgil van Dijk and then dispatched it with confidence.
Liverpool got back with Salah's goal but couldn't push for a third on the evening and had to satisfy themselves with just one point.
Andy Townsend believes Aleksandar Mitrovic's penalty against Liverpool was wrongly given
The Serbian striker showcased his nimble feet whenever he got the opportunity and unsettled the Reds defenders on more than one occasion. He also became the first player in the Premier League to dribble past Virgil van Dijk and force him into conceding a penalty.
However, former Chelsea ace Andy Townsend believes Mitrovic was already on his way down. He opined that it was nothing less than a dive from the Serbian that he sold well enough to earn a spot kick.
Townsend told talkSPORT:
"I didn’t see a lot of contact and if there’s no contact 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."
