Gary Lineker has refuted claims from Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce that Joelinton was fouled in the build-up to Chelsea’s winning goal on Saturday afternoon.
The Magpies were beaten 1-0 in the capital thanks to a late strike from Marcos Alonso, but speaking after the game, manager Bruce took exception to a coming together between his Brazilian striker and compatriot Jorginho prior to the goal.
Responding to that argument on Match of the Day (Saturday October 19th, BBC One, 22.35), Lineker said: “Well, we’re not sure about that.”
OPINION
You can understand Bruce’s indignation over the decision to allow play to go on after the coming together between Joelinton and Jorginho, but you’d probably have to file this one under “seen them given” rather than “nailed on foul”. The Chelsea midfielder does come in from behind and the Toon striker does hit the ground, but it’s fairly soft if we’re being honest, and you’d ideally want Joelinton to be a bit stronger in that situation. More to the point though, that incident happened quite a way before the ball hitting the back of the net, and there were several occasions when you might have expected United to win the ball back. Instead, they floundered, and ultimately were made to pay. The decision was contentious, but the defending was poorer.
