‘I think it’s ego’: Danny Murphy makes claim about Mohamed Salah after controversy last night

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There was no getting away from the limelight for Liverpool star Mo Salah last night, despite not getting around to taking a penalty as he saw Senegal teammate Sadio Mane smash home the winner in the AFCON final.

Salah had, seemingly, opted to take the fifth and final penalty for Egypt. However, the Liverpool star never got the chance to take his kick. Instead, Egypt missed prior to Salah stepping up, affording Reds teammate Mane the chance to smash home to crown Senegal winners.

Naturally, Salah’s penalty call had plenty of people talking. Pundits and fans on social media questioned the logic behind the team’s best player not stepping up before the tenth kick. And it was a thought shared by Talksport pundit and former Liverpool midfielder, Danny Murphy.

“First or fourth I say. Set the tone, set the standard, get your team off to a nice start or go fourth because very rarely the pens are done by the fourth, you’d have to be really unlucky. I think ego takes over when you’re wanting to go fifth. The fourth one more often than not becomes more crucial. Your best player should never be taking the fifth penalty. So many times you don’t get a fifth penalty,” Murphy said on Talksport today.

TBR’s View: Murphy Has A Point On Salah

We could quite easily be talking about Sadio Mane here in fairness. Both Liverpool stars left themselves to take the fifth spot kick and it was a risky strategy from both.

But Murphy is right here when it comes to Salah. He should have stepped up for the fourth to put the pressure on Mane, especially given he’d missed one in normal time.

Salah will, no doubt, learn from it. It happens to the very best, as we’ve seen with Cristiano Ronaldo before.