Adam Pope staggered by ‘dreadful’ Wilfried Gnonto incident in Peterborough United vs Leeds United FA Cup tie
BBC commentator Adam Pope hit out at a “dreadful decision” made by the referee in the FA Cup third-round tie between Peterborough United and Leeds United.
The incident took place late in the first half of Sunday’s (7 January) contest at The Weston Homes Stadium when Wilfried Gnonto appeared to be tripped by Josh Knight.
Referee Sam Allison decided against awarding Leeds a penalty, but he also did not book Gnonto for simulation, much to the confusion of Pope.
“Has the referee seen it as a tackle? He’s nowhere near the ball,” Pope said on BBC Radio Leeds [7 January, 2:44pm].
“It’s a dreadful decision. If it’s not a tackle, then it should have been a yellow card.”
Strange call
Gnonto was moving at some pace as he entered the Peterborough box and went to ground under what appeared to be contact from opposition defender Knight.
Allison saw it differently, however, and with no VAR in operation at the ground, it meant that Leeds’ complaints fell on deaf ears.
As Pope pointed out, if it was not a penalty, surely he considered it to be a dive? If any sort of contact was made then it was a spot-kick – simple.
Leeds were 1-0 ahead at that point thanks to Ethan Ampadu’s first goal for the club, and the Welshman added a second later in the game after Patrick Bamford’s Goal of the Season contender.
Ultimately, then, it mattered little. However, had Peterborough gone on to equalise – and they did have a couple of chances – then it would have been a much bigger talking point.
In other Leeds United news, a player linked with a move to Elland Road sent a message to Ampadu on social media.