Farai Hallam gets Junior Firpo controversy wrong in Leeds United draw v West Brom
Farai Hallam got it all wrong as Junior Firpo was caught in the middle of controversy as Leeds United drew 1-1 against West Brom on Saturday.
The Dominican Republic left-back got on the scoresheet again with another header to give Leeds the lead at Elland Road, but Darnell Furlong later equalised to split the points.
Hallam was very lenient throughout the game, dishing out zero cautions, something that Firpo can count himself lucky for, it appears.
Junior Firpo escapes punishment for Leeds United
Keith Hackett insists that Firpo should have been immediately booked after nearly pulling off Tom Fellows’ shorts in the second half.
The ex-FIFA official and PGMOL chief admitted that the defender should have been cautioned as incidents like that can raise indiscipline if not handled.
“This is a yellow card offence for Unsporting behaviour for stopping a promising attack,” Hackett exclusively told MOT Leeds News.
“This is the type of offence in a game that can raise the temperature in a game and indiscipline.”
Daniel Farke brought down to earth
After a massive run of wins against Watford, Coventry, Sunderland and Sheffield United, it is hard to forget that this is still a solid point against the Baggies.
Tony Mowbray is no mug in the Championship, and Leeds have continued their unbeaten run to keep confidence high at Elland Road, although Daniel Farke wasn’t massively happy.
Firpo has been at the heart of everything for Leeds in this latest run, with that huge goal at Bramall Lane followed up with another header on Saturday.
He was definitely lucky to avoid a caution in this one though, with his pull on Fellows after being turned usually automatically punished by officials, who may have missed how clear it was.
| Leeds | 1-1 | West Brom |
| Firpo | 9′ | |
| 39′ | Furlong |
The Whites can now look forward to a so-called easier run on paper with games against Portsmouth, Millwall, Queen’s Park Rangers and Swansea next up.
With the likes of Jayden Bogle still facing two-match suspensions, Farke will be keen for his players to avoid simple possible bookings like what this could and should have been.