Liverpool sealed a 4-2 win over Newcastle United after Diogo Jota won a controversial 86th-minute penalty.
Jota has slammed Alan Shearer and other pundits who labelled him a “diver” in the game earlier this month.
The post-match reaction following Liverpool’s New Year’s Day win over the Magpies focused on Anthony Taylor’s decision to award a late penalty. Newcastle had not long pulled a goal back to ensure a nervy finish before the referee controversially pointed to the spot.
Jota was put through one-on-one with Martin Dubravka and appeared to delay hitting the deck after going past the Toon goalkeeper. Mohamed Salah buried the resulting spot-kick but Newcastle were left raging at the final whistle.
Shearer, a former Magpies striker slammed Jota on social media as well as when speaking to The Rest Is Football co-host Gary Lineker.
He ranted: “He f**g dived. Pretty simple. That is as clear a dive as you will ever see. There was a tiny bit of contact, but he could have just stayed on his feet and tapped it in.”
However, the Portuguese forward refuted those suggestions, insisting he “would rather” have tapped into an empty net. Jota also highlighted Dubravka’s post-match confirmation that he clipped him before the penalty was awarded.
“Listen, of course, I saw some comments from ex-players and people who are paid to talk about situations,” Jota said.
“The only thing I can say is even the keeper said it was a touch and that I didn’t feel the conditions to stay up.
“So that’s it. I would rather score a goal. That’s what I like to do – score goals. That’s all I have to say.”
