6 Comments

Firstly, at what point does Jota stop? I have watched the game and the replays and at no point does Jota stop. Secondly, there is nothing in the rules that says that a player cannot stop while he is running. Jota is fully entitled to run, stop, go around in circles, do hop, skip and jump if he wants to. Anyone who has played competitive football knows that if you want to shoot accurately, there is a point that you steady yourself. Neither of those spud defenders get the ball. Penalty ALLDAY, EVERY DAY!

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You can see a gradual slowing down as he composes himself for a shot - which is, of course, absolutely normal for a striker (as Jermaine Defoe pointed out on Sky after the game). It's not possible to go at full pelt and get a decent shot away on goal, so Tierney's argument just comes off as blatantly ignorant.

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The thing is, if Diogo is in possession of the ball, he CAN stop if he wants to. He can perform cartwheels if he so desires, (not recommended)! It's up to the defender, not to touch him, never mind shove him to the ground. Total error by the ref who should be sent back to training school. It's not fair on lower division teams if he gets demoted.

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Precisely so! Diogo shouldn't be penalised for exercising his natural, attacking instincts.

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Get ex football.players 2 sit on the var screens

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There's definitely a need to seriously consider how footballers think. Tierney just didn't get it right - and it won't be the last time from an official without some kind of rethink on how referees are trained.

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