Sky Sports studio laugh at Illan Meslier joke from Clinton Morrison after Leeds United howler
Clinton Morrison had the whole of the Sky Sports Soccer Saturday studio laughing as he made a joke at the expense of Leeds United keeper Illan Meslier at Sunderland.
The former Crystal Palace and Birmingham City striker reacted live on Sky Sports News on 5 October the day after the Whites keeper’s stunning 97th-minute error to concede an equaliser in the 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light, comparing him to a cricket batsman deceived by a spinning delivery.
A harmless ball from Alan Browne flicked into the box of Junior Firpo’s head deep into stoppage time and Meslier somehow let it bounce past him and in to stun Daniel Farke on the bench.
Morrison said (12.31pm) to laughs from his fellow pundits: “Big mistake from Meslier, he’s looking at the pitch. I thought it was a great spinner, it was like a googly that was bowled there, absolutely, totally done Meslier.
“It’s done Meslier but it was a great little spinner.”
Sue Smith added: “The hardest thing is that there’s an international break so he’s got that little bit of time to think about it, because I think when you make a mistake like that you just want to play again, don’t you, and try and put it right?”
Sunderland escape with point against Leeds United
Ultimately the only way to get past an error as bad as Meslier’s to try to find the funny side, even if that will be a struggle for a lot of the fanbase straight away.
The Frenchman himself came in for criticism for doing so after the final whistle, with Jeff Stelling passionately leaping to his defence online.
Daniel Farke potentially has a decision to make over his goalkeeper, but having never wavered from Meslier as the number one despite signing Karl Darlow two summers ago it would be a surprise if he made a change now.
The 24-year-old’s overall game has been a cause for concern on plenty of occasions in the past couple of years, but Farke seemingly never considered a change despite Sam Allardyce dropping him at the end of the Premier League season, and he was largely good at Sunderland.
His catastrophic mistake at the end was so stunning it wasn’t in keeping with the rest of the performance.
It would be easier to drop Meslier if it had come at the end of one of his shakier displays, although taking him out now would potentially shatter his confidence altogether.
In other Leeds United news, a Whites player exploded at his teammate for what he did in the 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light.
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