Liverpool forward Sadio Mane has been heavily slammed for the manner in which he went down in PSG's penalty box following a tackle by Angel Di Maria. The 26-year-old attacker handed the Reds the opportunity to reduce their deficit in the first half to just one goal after Juan Bernat and Neymar Jr. had put the host two goals ahead.
The mandated James Milner subsequently stepped up to put the ball in the net of the Parisian on the stroke of half-time. Agitations following the turn of events, however, brewed from the fact that some fans believed the referee made a wrong call by awarding Liverpool the spot-kick.
A close replay of the incident involving Mane and Di Maria revealed that although the latter eventually caught the legs of the former, the Liverpool attacker seemingly appeared to be on his way down prior to making contact with the ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid star's foot. Watch the incident in the video below (geo-restrictions may apply):
Penalty or did Sadio Mane dive?
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 28, 2018
(U.S Only) pic.twitter.com/F48YtBa0ZF
Here are what some fans had to say about Mane's antics and the referee's judgment:
Sadio Mané certainly does love a good dive, doesn't he.
— Jonathan O'Brien (@obrien_jonathan) November 28, 2018
Sadio Mane... terrible dive. He literally falls into him. How people say it's a penalty is beyond me. He's almost hit the floor before Di Maria makes any contact
— Alex Bibby (@alexbibby25) November 28, 2018
What a dive from Sadio Mane....
— Arsyad (@AmirulArsyad96) November 28, 2018
Elite dive by Mane. Should be booked.
— NC (@OzilVision11) November 28, 2018
Nice dive from Mane there.
— Alexander (@ACMViking) November 28, 2018
Mane dive. Ref behind the goal is blind
— Felix (@wangusi_) November 28, 2018
Blimey Mane should be embarrassed he got the dive in early to say the least #UCL
— ian rodgers (@buckrodgersposh) November 28, 2018
A similar incident involving Raheem Sterling in Manchester City's demolishing of Shakhtar Donetsk also attracted an akin reaction from fans on social media in the UEFA Champions League's group-stages Matchday 4. Time for the VAR?