‘He said’ - Fulham midfielder makes big Stuart Atwell claim after Liverpool defeat

Fulham midfielder Tom Cairney has claimed that referee Stuart Atwell admitted he got the penalty call wrong last night during Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over the London side.

A 39th-minute Mohamed Salah penalty was enough to secure all three points and give Jurgen Klopp’s outfit a fifth straight win in the Premier League.

The Reds remain in fifth place, some four points off Manchester United who have two games in hand, but results and performances have certainly turned around of late.

However, the major talking point from the game was the penalty incident involving Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez and Fulham’s Issa Diop. Nunez was adjudged to have been clipped inside the box when Diop went to clear the ball

Yet Cairney, speaking to Fulham’s official website, protested that Atwell - who pointed immediately to the spot - subsequently admitted that the all-important decision he made was wrong.

The Cottagers midfielder said: “At the time, I wasn’t sure [if it was a penalty]. The ref made a decision, I thought he’d seen contact. I asked him on the pitch, ‘please just make sure they check it.’

“He said they checked it, but he said second half to one of our players that it wasn’t a penalty, so it’s frustrating because it goes to other people to make the correct decision.”

Fulham manager Marco Silva described the penalty decision as ‘embarrassing’ and accused Nunez to force contact with Diop.