Micah Richards adamant as verdict shared on Leeds vs Sunderland controversy on Match of the Day
Micah Richards and Danny Murphy believe Leeds United should have been awarded a penalty against Sunderland.
Leeds fell to a damaging 1-0 defeat to Sunderland on Tuesday, a result rubber-stamped by West Ham’s win at Fulham and Nottingham Forest’s draw away to Manchester City a day later.
Daniel Farke‘s side dominated possession but couldn’t break down a stubborn Sunderland defensive rearguard at Elland Road, as Habib Diarra’s 70th-minute penalty proved the difference.
Leeds, arguably, should have been given a spot-kick of their own when Luke O’Nien aggressively had both arms around the neck of Pascal Struijk but nothing was given.
And on Match of the Day on Wednesday night, ex-Manchester City man Richards and former Liverpool player Murphy were in no doubt what the correct decision should have been.
Leeds United told they were ‘really unlucky’ over penalty decision
Murphy suggested he didn’t know what more needed to happen for Leeds to have been awarded a penalty for this incident with Struijk and Sunderland’s O’Nien.
He said on MOTD: “We think Leeds were really unlucky. O’Nien’s involved. When you watch Struijk come in for the ball, he grabs him around the neck with both hands.
“The ball is in play and pulls him down. I am not sure what criteria you need to meet to get a penalty. I don’t know what to say. It’s a penalty.”
And an exasperated Richards simply said: “It’s a penalty.” Three words every Leeds fans will agree with.
On the flip side, both understood why Ethan Ampadu was pulled up for a penalty but didn’t feel his actions were intentional.
Richards said, “It’s not intentional. [Ampadu] does move his arm to the ball. His hands are up. He is sort of just reacting.”
And Murphy added: “They said it was deliberate, I don’t think it was. But I understand why they have given it, it was a really poor penalty.”
After this midweek set of results, Leeds are just three points above 18th-placed West Ham and 17th-positioned Forest.
All eyes will be on how Tottenham get on at home to Crystal Palace on Thursday night as the relegation battle heats up.
Danny Murphy outlines what Leeds are missing
Leeds have only suffered four defeats in their last 15 league games, with Farke turning the Yorkshire outfit into a very competitive team.
However, in that stretch, they have only won four games, in addition to creditable draws with Chelsea, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester United and more.
And Murphy feels that they need to start turning some of these draws into wins to beat the drop.
He added: “[Leeds] had a good level of performance for quite a while now but their level of performance hasn’t got them many wins.
“Having good performances doesn’t always get you the points you want, so they are in a right battle.”
Leeds take a break from Premier League action on Sunday when they host Farke’s old team Norwich City in round five of the FA Cup.
It remains to be seen how much the German will rotate for this cup clash with the Canaries, with a quarter-final spot on the line.
It may be prudent to rest some of his players for this encounter but equally, a defeat could have a negative knock-on effect for their league run-in.
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