Danny Murphy: Penalty decision correct in Leeds United draw v Everton
Gary Lineker and Danny Murphy agree referee Darren England was correct to award Everton a penalty kick against Leeds United on Saturday.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 30th minute after he was fouled by Liam Cooper.
The England striker was clearly having his shirt pulled by the Leeds captain, who claimed after the game that he was also having his shirt pulled and that he was “disappointed” with the decision [Yorkshire Evening Post].
However, after watching replays, Murphy and Lineker agree that it was a foul on Calvert-Lewin.
“I think the whole thing was dealt with brilliantly,” said Murphy on Match of the Day on Sunday night [BBC iPlayer].
“It wasn’t given, they missed it. Jermaine [Jenas] and I were certain it was a penalty as soon as we saw it. They went and had a look, he changed his mind and gave it.
“It’s fine, that’s the way it should work.”
Lineker then mimicked Calvert-Lewing saying ‘he pulled my shirt’. Then said: “He certainly did.”
No doubt
Cooper can act as though it wasn’t a penalty as much as he likes but the replays show that he definitely hauled Calvert-Lewin to the group.
It was really poor defending by the Scotland international, who should know better when VAR is in operation.
You’ll simply never get away with anything like that.
Calvert-Lewin is a handful but you cannot let him get goalside of you, which is why Cooper ended up having to foul him.
We’re now starting to see calls from fans for Cooper to be dropped by Marcelo Bielsa.
It’s fair to say he wasn’t at his best last week when Manchester United smashed us 5-1 at Old Trafford but no one really played well in that game.
And he wasn’t great against Everton either, but he was playing against one of the best strikers in the league.
Diego Llorente will hopefully be back to action next week and a centre-back partnership of him and Robin Koch may be the way forward if Leeds continue to concede the goals they are.
In other Leeds United news, this big-money ace could be heading to the Elland Road exit doors.