He got away with it – Exclusive: Pundit dubs Leeds star ‘Hugely lucky’
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…
Paul Robinson has claimed that Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier was “hugely lucky” to get away with his collision with Burnley defender Ben Mee.
Rob Jones decided to penalise Mee for the contact, meaning that Ashley Barnes saw his potential equaliser ruled out at Elland Road.
Robinson believes that if anything was going to be given, it should have been a penalty for the away side, as it was Meslier who initiated the contact.
Speaking exclusively to MOT Leeds News, Robinson said, “He was hugely lucky to get away with it.
“If you’re a manager, you want your goalkeeper coming out and coming off the line, clearing everything in front of him. He can see from a distance, the trajectory of the ball, it was, if anything, a foul the other way.
“Ben Mee was just trying to win the header, he was going backwards, his eyes were only on the ball and Meslier did that a couple of times.”
Jones could not have got that decision more wrong if he tried. He either should have allowed play to continue for a couple more seconds and the goal would have stood or he should have blown for a Burnley penalty.
Even though we won and a Burnley goal might have changed the outcome of the game massively, we’re not going to argue against the fact Leeds were very, very lucky to not concede at that moment.
Meslier has done well in the Premier League but he has been prone to errors like that.
Fortunately, he played very well after his mistake and played a big role in earning all three points against the Clarets.
In other Leeds United news, Andrea Radrizzani has been backed to make a £180million-plus investment.