Exclusive: Kevin Friend should not have let Zouma goal stand in Chelsea v Leeds clash – pundit
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United…
Leeds United might have come unstuck against a better Chelsea side on Saturday but two incidents went against them that could have had a big impact on the result.
The incident that made the most headlines was the clip on Ian Poveda in the penalty area that wasn’t looked at by VAR.
However, Paul Robinson thinks that Kevin Friend and VAR missed a foul in the build-up to Chelsea second goal.
Liam Cooper went down in the box leaving Kurt Zouma with a free header.
Robinson claims that Olivier Giroud fouled Cooper and that the goal shouldn’t have stood.
Talking exclusively to MOT Leeds News Robinson said, “I thought it was a foul on Cooper for the Zouma goal.
“Cooper’s a big strong centre-half and he’s marking his man in the six-yard box. He’s not going to go down unless he’s got a reason to.
“Pushing and shoving goes on all the time and there has to be some sort of contact to take Cooper out of a challenge.
“Giroud catches him, whether he means to or not, and that for me is a free-kick. He’s not looking to win a free-kick.
“He’s been fouled and that shouldn’t have been a goal. He’s got no other reason to go down in his six-yard box.”
The two big decisions went against Leeds at Stamford Bridge but we haven’t got any complaints about the result – as much as it pains us to admit it.
Chelsea out-ran Leeds and absolutely dominated the game in terms of xG – almost 5 to 1. [Understat]
That’s a paddling whichever way you look at it and Leeds would have been fortunate to get a point out of the game because of ref’s decisions going our way.
In other Leeds United news, Big injury blow hits, Bielsa to axe 28yo in 2 big changes – Predicted Leeds XI v West Ham