Mohamed Salah escapes retrospective action over Danilo Pereira and is free to play Liverpool vs Porto second leg
Porto president Pinto da Costa criticised Salah for a ‘very dangerous’ challenge during Tuesday night’s first leg but Uefa will not review the tackle as referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz was aware of it
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Your support makes all the difference.Mohamed Salah will not face retrospective action over his tackle on Porto’s Danilo Pereira in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Liverpool beat Porto at Anfield to edge closer to a semi-final place, taking a comfortable 2-0 lead into the return leg at the Estadio do Dragao next week.
But Salah escaped a potential red card late on in the second half when he caught Porto captain Danilo above the ankle with his studs raised.
The challenge incensed the visitors but referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz chose not to penalise Salah or consult VAR.
And as per Article 9 of Uefa’s disciplinary regulations, Salah will not face retrospective punishment as the officials spotted the incident during the game.
"Decisions taken by the referee on the field of play are final and may not be reviewed by the Uefa disciplinary bodies,” the regulations state.
“In cases of serious misconduct, disciplinary action may be taken even if the referee and his assistants did not see the event in question and were therefore unable to take any action."
Porto players and officials condemned the tackle in their post-match comments, with goalkeeper Iker Casillas drawing attention to the challenge on social media.
Pinto da Costa, the president of Porto, ‘thanked God’ that Danilo was not seriously hurt by Salah’s tackle, while defender Felipe described it as “very dangerous”.
Yet Salah will be free to play in the return leg in Portugal next Wednesday, when Liverpool will look to secure a place against either Barcelona or Manchester United in the last four.
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