Jamie Carragher: Junior Firpo lucky not to see red v Newcastle
Leeds United crashed to a disappointing 1-1 draw against Newcastle in the Premier League on Friday evening.
Raphinha opened the scoring at St James’ Park, but the Whites threw it away with sloppy defending against Allan Saint-Maximin.
Junior Firpo had his hands full most of the evening against the flying Frenchman, and Jamie Carragher believes he was lucky to finish the 90 minutes on the pitch.
Speaking on Sky Sports towards the end of the game, Carragher admitted that the Spanish full-back got away with one after dragging Ryan Fraser down.
“I think he’s lucky,” he explained.
“He’s on a yellow card already, Firpo – he does really well to get away from him.”
Lucky?
Looking at the tangle, it appears as though Carragher makes a very valid point and Firpo could have got away with one.
Marcelo Bielsa will have been crossing his fingers on the touchline after Mike Dean had blown for the foul as it was the last thing he needed.
Luke Ayling joined Diego Llorente and Robin Koch with injury concerns, add to that Pascal Struijk’s suspension and defensive options are looking more than limited.
We really are down to the bare bones at the back, and picking up an unnecessary red card in the dying moments would not have helped our cause.
Thankfully, Firpo will be ready to go again next week as we take on West Ham, with a rest likely handed out in the cup clash with Fulham.
In other Leeds United news, Alan Brazil drops major Whites concern live on talkSPORT, Ray Parlour makes prediction