Keith Hackett speaks out on incident in Leeds loss vs Sunderland that left Elland Road ‘enraged’
Keith Hackett praised Stuart Attwell for his deicison to award Sunderland a penalty against Leeds.
Leeds’ 22-game unbeaten run in night games under the lights at Elland Road came to an end against Sunderland, and it was all down to the penalty.
A flurry in the box ended with Ethan Ampadu being penalised for a handball after a VAR check, with Attwell pointing to the spot.
Replays were shown at Elland Road, and as quoted by Graham Smyth, fans were left “enraged” that the deicison was given against them.
However, when reviewing the footage, former PGMOL chief, Hackett, believes that Attwell was right to award the penalty.
- Read more: Premier League put out announcement after Ethan Ampadu incident in Leeds United loss vs Sunderland
Ethan Ampadu penalised for ‘deliberate’ handball
It was, as expected, a rather cagey affair at Elland Road, with Leeds looking to move nine points clear of the bottom three and Sunderland looking to return home with whatever they could, given the injury crisis they are going through.
Very quickly, it became apparent that the game was either going to be decided by a moment of sheer brilliance or a controversial decision, and on this occasion, it was the latter.
Replays showed that the ball initially deflected up from Ampadu, but also that he made a clear movement towards the ball with his hand.
That was the reasoning behind the deicison being overturned, and Hackett was in full agreement.
Speaking exclusively to MOT Leeds News, he said: “This is a deliberate movement of the hand/arm towards the ball and propels the ball forward.
“Well done to the officials for detecting and penalising this offence.”
Stuart Attwell is not a popular man at Elland Road after first half incident
Leeds felt as though they had been hard done by on several occasions against Sunderland, and in all honesty, they were.
Several fouls were awarded for next to nothing, while blatant ones were missed.
And in the first half, the most blatant foul was missed, not only by Attwell, but also by VAR.
Pascal Struijk was brought to the ground by Luke O’Nien, who had his arms wrapped around the neck of the Dutchman.
It was a clear penalty that even had TNT’s pundits fuming, and for VAR to have not even checked it is beyond baffling.
For more reaction to Leeds’ controversial loss to Sunderland, head over to Football Insider.