Michael Owen thought Sadio Mane could have done more to earn Liverpool a penalty against Newcastle (Picture: Amazon Prime / PLP)

Michael Owen claimed he was ‘astonished’ Sadio Mane didn’t do more to try and convince referee Paul Tierney to award a penalty in the closing stages of last night’s match against Newcastle following his tussle with Karl Darlow.

The Magpies’ goalkeeper was in superb form during the stalemate at St James’ Park, producing a string of fine saves to frustrate the champions who were forced to settle for a second successive draw.

Darlow, however, was fortunate not to have been penalised with 10 minutes remaining when he grabbed hold of the Liverpool forward and prevented him from beating Fabian Schar to the ball and scoring what would have been, almost certainly, the winning goal.
Fabian Schar, that is superb!

The @NUFC defender prevents a certain goal with a last-ditch clearance 👏#PLonPrime #NEWLIV pic.twitter.com/cGwCfbtHkc— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 30, 2020

While Owen praised Mane for his honesty, the former Liverpool striker believes Jurgen Klopp will be ruing the Senegal international’s decision to stay on his feet and making the referee’s job far harder than it might have been had he gone to ground.

He said: ‘I’m astonished that Mane didn’t shout and ask the referee why it’s not a penalty and IR...