Exclusive: Brentford star lambasted as a ‘diver, just like Mohamed Salah’
Keith Andrews must hold talks with Dango Ouattara behind the scenes despite winning Brentford a penalty against Brighton.
That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that the £42.5million signing should have been punished by Chris Kavanagh on Saturday, 22 November.
Igor Thiago netted his ninth goal of the Premier League season, but with efforts from Danny Welbeck and Jack Hinshelwood, the Seagulls completed a dramatic comeback at the Amex Stadium.
The Bees’ goalscorer also had a chance to equalise in the fourth minute of added time after Kevin Schade was pulled down by Maxim De Cuyper, but he saw his effort saved by Bart Verbruggen.
Dango Ouattara dives to win a penalty vs Brighton
Some might feel that the Brentford striker was fortunate to even have his first opportunity to score from the penalty spot, with Ouattara being accused of cheating once again.
The 23-year-old winger was involved when Dan Burn was sent off during Newcastle United’s defeat to the Bees, and he was in the spotlight once again after going down under a challenge from Carlos Baleba.
Hackett believes that the big-money star is now creating a reputation for himself, but Kavanagh bought the dive and awarded a spot-kick, which his side benefited from in the first half.
VAR should have spotted the incident before Thiago was allowed to roll the ball home, and while some will argue that a penalty was the right decision, Brighton can feel hard done by.
Keith Andrews warned as Brentford star creates a reputation
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former referee said: “This was probably a little closer in terms of judgment – was it a foul or was it not? Should it have been a penalty kick or not?
“We know that if players feel a touch in the penalty area, they’ll go down. But what will happen is that, just like [Mohamed] Salah at Liverpool, they gain a reputation as a bit of a diver.
“As a consequence, there are times they should get penalty kicks, and they don’t. His manager ought to have a word with him about staying on his feet rather than going down in a ridiculous manner.
“That one against Dan Burn that saw him get a second yellow card, that was really, really poor. He went to ground very easily, and the referee bought it.“