Paul Robinson: Pascal Struijk left in shock over Harvey Elliott injury in Leeds United v Liverpool
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United.
Pascal Struijk looked as though he was “in shock” after the Leeds United defender’s challenge seriously injury Harvey Elliott on Sunday, according to Paul Robinson.
Struijk’s ball-winning challenge wasn’t even deemed a foul by referee Craig Pawson but video replays show Elliott, 18, suffered a serious ankle injury when contact was made.
Ex-Leeds goalkeeper Robinson feels there was no malice by 22-year-old Struijk and the player’s reaction said it all about how he felt of the incident.
“You could see Struijk was visibly affected on the pitch,” Robinson told MOT Leeds News. “He was visibly shaken by it. He looked like he was in shock as to what had happened.
“Knowing the person and knowing the player, there’s no way in the world he would have meant that.
“There was no malice at all, similar to Heung-min Son at Everton on Andre Gomes [in 2019]. It was the same type of incident and I don’t think either were red cards.
“With Struijk, the referee has seen the injury and he’s red-carded him because of that and not because of the incident.”
Struijk will now miss the next three matches for Leeds after his ban was upheld by the FA.
Elliott has continually said that the Leeds defender meant no harm and should not have been sent off or banned for his role in the injury.
The Liverpool teenager has acted brilliantly throughout all of this and while Struijk is likely to be cut up over the injury he caused, he’s probably feeling a lot better due to the English midfielder’s response.
In other Leeds United news, this teenager broke an EFL record for Leeds this week after a video clip caught him doing something incredible.