Keith Hackett: Diego Llorente should have been sent off in Leeds United draw v Southampton
We’re delighted to welcome former Premier League referee Keith Hackett to the MOT Leeds News team. Each week, Hackett will discuss the big moments from the latest Leeds United games and deliver his verdict on whether his successors got their calls right or wrong…
Keith Hackett has insisted that Leeds United defender Diego Llorente should have been sent off in the 2-2 draw v Southampton on Saturday (13 August).
The ex-FIFA referee believes that the Spaniard’s challenge on Stuart Armstrong, which wasn’t actually penalised, was actually a clear foul and denial of a goalscoring opportunity.
Hackett was surprised that VAR didn’t step in, but that could be down to the inconsistencies sparked by the PGMOL over the latest summer in the Premier League.
“That’s a foul,” he exclusively told MOT Leeds News.
“The knees have come together, for me it’s a clear foul. For me, he’s fouled him there and I think that is a foul and it should have resulted in a red card.
“I’m really surprised [VAR didn’t step in], but again you have this scenario where, when an organisation like the PGMOL say they’re going to raise the bar, all it does, is generate inconsistency because it’s not a big foul, but it doesn’t need to be.
“It fulfils the criteria of a denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity.”
This was a very subjective challenge.
Llorente does eventually get the ball in the challenge, but also collected some of Armstrong on the way, with the Scotland international somehow rolling around in agony.
Robin Koch was covering, and you have to consider that Armstrong isn’t exactly the fastest player in the world and that he most likely would have been caught by either Llorente or Koch if this challenge wasn’t made.
Getting that toe on the ball certainly helped the Spaniard, but that is all you have to do, and we have seen much worst ignored by VAR in recent years for this one to be called on.
Thankfully, it went the way of Leeds and Llorente.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites now want to sign this striker with a rival set to kickstart a major £30million+ transfer battle