Patrick Bamford accusation made live on talkSPORT after Leeds United incident v Rotherham
Tony Cascarino has accused Patrick Bamford of cheating after the Leeds United forward appeared to score with his elbow against Rotherham United on Saturday 10 February.
The 30-year-old opened the scoring after 10 minutes, netting past Viktor Johansson from an extremely tight angle and it appeared to be quite obvious in the moment that an arm was used.
Despite this, the goal stood and the Whites would go on to win the match 3-0 at Elland Road, but Cascarino has slated the “audacity” of Bamford after pointing to his elbow during his celebration.
“Of course, it’s a handball. Like Maradona, he got away with it. He cheated,” the former Aston Villa striker said via talkSPORT on Sunday (11 February, 8:54am).
“He knew, he even pointed to his elbow during his celebration. The audacity shown after knowing he got away with it… It was so clear.
“He handballed it, owned it, and then got congratulated for the goal. There is no other way to explain it. He had no intention of telling the referee what he had done either.”
Patrick Bamford causes controversy for Leeds United
It is a tough situation for the Leeds striker. On one hand, sportsmanship is an extremely important part of football, which suggests Bamford should have been honest about his goal.
On the other hand, however, it is the match officials’ job to rule out a goal such as Bamford’s – that is what they are there for. If the handball was so blatant, and it always will be with replays on television, why did the assistant referee not see it?
The entire Leeds performance would indicate that Daniel Farke’s men would have claimed all three points without Bamford’s goal anyway, with Crysencio Summerville scoring a brace in the second half.
The Whites dominated the Millers like they have done to so many other teams in the Championship this season, and it was only a matter of time until Leeds took the lead in the fixture.
In other Leeds United news, the Jaidon Anthony deal has been explained as a result of this move.
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