Mohamed Salah will not face any FA action for the incident which led to Liverpool’s penalty in the 4-0 win over Newcastle.
Liverpool were awarded the penalty two minutes into the second half after referee Graham Scott judged Salah had been pulled back by Paul Dummett.
Sky Sports News understands Salah’s reaction to being pulled back did not reach the required threshold for “attempting to deceive the referee” and so the Egyptian will not face retrospective action.
Salah scored from the spot to put Liverpool 2-0 up at Anfield after Dejan Lovren’s stunning 11th-minute half-volley had given the Premier League leaders a half-time lead.
Further goals from Xherdan Shaqiri (79) and Fabinho (85) gave Liverpool an emphatic win and allowed them to open up a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, ahead of games against Arsenal on Saturday and Manchester City on January 3.
Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez had labelled the penalty award “soft” and a crucial moment in Wednesday’s game.
He told Sky Sports: “The soft penalty in the game made the difference, we were in the game 1-0 at half-time, but when we conceded the second goal it was more difficult for us to react against a very good team.
“The second goal was crucial, it gave them more confidence and was more difficult for us, you have to take more risks, be more open then you make more mistakes and pay for that.”
SkySports
