'I knew': £11m Crystal Palace player takes to social media to amplify anti-Liverpool narrative
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Crystal Palace felt they were on the wrong end of a refereeing decision during their win over Liverpool on Saturday.
The Eagles have started the season in superb form after lifting the Community Shield before the campaign began.
And while they beat Liverpool on that day at Wembley in August, they were at it again with a last-gasp Eddie Nketiah goal at the weekend.
It was no less than Palace deserved after dominating Arne Slot‘s team for large parts of Saturday’s game.
For a brief time before the final whistle it had looked as though Liverpool may escape with a point, Federico Chiesa firing home from close range after a wayward header from Chris Richards.
There was some controversy attached to Chiesa’s goal, with Palace convinced that Mohamed Salah had handled in the build-up.
Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images
For a heart-sinking minute or two it had looked as though the VAR was going to rule out Chiesa’s late equaliser.
However, while Salah’s hands were unquestionably up and in an unnatural position following a push from a Palace defender, he did not appear to make contact with the ball.
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As a result, the goal was correctly awarded and Liverpool were back in the game.
They could not hold on, though, leading to Richards claiming that ‘justice’ had been done.
“I knew I wasn’t seeing things,” the American posted on X alongside a still of Salah’s hand moving towards the ball.
Adding the hashtags ‘justice’ and ‘thanks Eddie’, it is clear what Richards thought of the incident.
Unfortunately, the post the defender had chosen to amplify in sending his message was one from an Arsenal fan claiming a refereeing conspiracy favouring Liverpool.
“VAR strikes again in Liverpool’s favour,” says the original poster, sharing a misleading still image of the incident.
“Clear handball from Salah.”
Richards has been excellent for Palace this season.
He is starting to make the £11m they paid Bayern Munich for his services look like an absolute bargain.
Nevertheless, it is disappointing to see a professional player falling for biased fan narratives on social media.
Richards may not have intended to amplify an anti-Liverpool message with his post, and was instead merely highlighting a decision he felt was wrong.
But the fact is that he attached his words to a one-eyed claim, and in doing so adds credibility to the likes of the original poster, who clearly had little interest in whether the right decision had been reached or not.
Very disappointing to see.