Arne Slot furious at Mohamed Salah and Marc Guehi moment that 'denied goal opportunity'

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said he could have no complaints about the referee giving a penalty against Alisson and a red card to Dominik Szoboszlai, but he did have another issue

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Liverpool boss Arne Slot was left fuming at referee Craig Pawson's call that Mohamed Salah was not denied a goalscoring opportunity when he was brought down just outside the penalty area by Marc Guehi.

The former Crystal Palace center-back just about managed to let go of Salah in time for the referee to award a free-kick rather than a spot kick. The England ace avoided a red card as there was arguably a covering defender who might have got back in time to make a block.

Salah was furious on the field, but after a VAR review, the decision stood. And Slot was displeased with that more than anything else post-game, despite the other calls that went against his side.

"We can talk about the decisions," Slot said on Sky Sports. "I would like to talk about the one time Mo was through on goal and Guehi holds his shirt.

"Everyone who has been in this stadium in the last eight years knows if Mo is in that position, it is a goal. So it is a denial of a goalscoring opportunity."

Goalkeeper Alisson Becker gave away a penalty and Dominik Szoboszlai was sent off as Liverpool collapsed despite the latter's exceptional free-kick putting the Reds in front.

Marc Guehi challenges Mohamed Salah(Image: Getty)

And Slot was generally pleased with how his side played for most of the contest.

"Another great Liverpool-Man City game as we have seen over the years," he said. "It is a very disappointing outcome.

"They were more comfortable on the ball than us and it didn't lead to many big chances. Second half, it was the opposite. And then for them, when they were near our box, it was a goal which is disappointing.

"We had chances when Curtis Jones has the ball and Salah makes a deep run. Unfortunately, Guehi intercepted it, and then we all saw what happened.

"If the game goes on, you are always hoping you can keep the energy going and then sometimes they make mistakes.

"We had a good and impressive second half but unfortunately it was not a positive result."

Liverpool travels to play Sunderland at the Stadium of Light next. In that game, Szoboszlai will be suspended after his sending off. Wataru Endo, with Joe Gomez, Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong also absent, could deputize at right-back.