David Luiz Reveals Convo with Mohamed Salah During Arsenal's Loss to Liverpool

Arsenal defender David Luiz has said Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah told him the penalty that was awarded during the Reds' 3-1 win on Saturday was a soft one to give.

Speaking to Sky Sports (h/t Mirror's Alex Milne), Luiz said Salah agreed with him when he believed the light tug on the shirt that led to the call was not enough to award the spot-kick: "I think the second goal, the penalty, killed the game. If I pull your shirt or put my hand on your shirt, it's totally different—the power is different. VAR is difficult for them; they cannot see the power. It depends on the interpretation. I spoke with Momo. He said, 'I didn't feel that.'"

The incident occurred early in the second half, and after the penalty was converted to make it 2-0, Arsenal's chances of winning were as good as gone.

Luiz was also carded during the play, and when Salah ran past him on his way to a second goal to make it 3-0, the Brazilian was unable to stop him or risk getting sent off. He noted: "For the third goal, I could not make the foul and put my team in trouble with 10 men. So I think I conditioned my game after that. It was more difficult, but the team fight until the end."

Joel Matip got the opener for the Reds, and Lucas Torreira scored the Gunners' only goal of the contest in the 85th minute.

Goals have come easy for Liverpool against Arsenal since Jurgen Klopp became their manager:

Arsenal had won their first two matches of the season, a remarkable start given the turnover the club experienced in the summer. Luiz was one of several new arrivals, with Nicolas Pepe getting his first start for the Gunners on Saturday and Dani Ceballos already proving a savvy signing.

The team is still coming along, however, and poor outings like Saturday's are to be expected. Liverpool are European champions and among the title favourites this year, and they punished every mistake Arsenal made.

The Gunners will host local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in their next outing on Sept. 1 in another match against a top title candidate.