Mo Salah "could have broken Danilo's leg" says Porto president
Porto president Pinto da Costa has hit out at the officials after Liverpool's Mohamed Salah escaped punishment for a "leg-breaker" tackle.
Porto president Pinto da Costa has slammed Mohamed Salah's tackle on Danilo Pereira during his side's Champions League defeat to Liverpool on Tuesday. The Egyptian forward appeared to catch the shin of his opponent during the course of the quarter-final clash at Anfield, which the Primeira Liga side went on to lose 2-0. Da Costa claimed the Portugal international can consider himself grateful not to leave England with a broken leg after the challenge.
"Danilo should thank God because this is a leg-breaker - trying not to kick the ball," he is quoted as saying by ESPN. "I thank God he does not have a broken leg." VAR was consulted but the ref decided no further action was needed and Danilo was able to complete the rest of the match.
Incident deemed not worthy of VAR review
Salah escaped any punishment for the tackle and Da Costa said he was disappointed with many of the decisions made by referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz. "We want equality for everyone - look at Felipe's tackle which brought a yellow and this [tackle by Salah] for which we are lucky Danilo is not en route to hospital," he said.
Return leg will be different
Nevertheless, Da Costa is confident that his side can still reach the semi-final stage. "We can score two goals just like we conceded here," he said. "We continued to chase the goal, we had chances, there was a penalty which was not given for handball - just look - and Felipe was also caught."
Two goals to level the tie
Porto will have the chance to overturn the deficit suffered at Anfield when the teams meet again next Wednesday.