If you were to listen to certain pundits over the past week or so, it’s fine to go to ground easily and win a penalty if you’re Bruno Fernandes but not if you’re Diogo Jota.
The Manchester United captain fell to the turf dramatically when clipped by Wigan’s Liam Shaw and scored the resulting spot kick in the Red Devil’s 2-0 win in the FA Cup on Monday night.
The incident came a week after his Portuguese compatriot at Liverpool was caught by Martin Dubravka before going to ground in the Reds’ 4-2 defeat of Newcastle at Anfield.
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Both were similar cases of a player being lightly clipped inside the penalty area and hitting the deck a tad melodramatically – soft penalties, but correct decisions nonetheless. Guess what…both were given by the same referee in Anthony Taylor.
However, the contrast in reactions between the two incidents brutally exposed the double standards which exist in the English media.
Speaking on punditry duty for ITV Sport last night, Ian Wright was adamant that Fernandes’ spot kick was rightly given, with Roy Keane describing it as ‘clever play’ from the United captain.
Funny enough, then, that when Jota was caught by Dubravka only a week previously, the esteemed Wright lambasted the Liverpool attacker on social media, and he was far from alone in piling in on the 27-year-old.
Would rather go down for a penalty than put the ball in an empty net! Seen it all!
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) January 1, 2024
Two similar incidents, but two wildly contrasting reactions. We’re not calling for a witch hunt against Fernandes by any means, but rather some reflection from Jota’s critics who appear to be fine with United players being ‘clever’ by going down to win penalties but object to those from Liverpool doing so.
You can’t have it both ways, lads.
Can’t hear ,sheare, Wright,keane, gobbing off about man utd captain tripping himself up to win a penalty last night,what goes round comes round lol😂😂
Totally different Jota nearly end up out of the ground before he went down.
How can you compare the two incidents? Fernandes wasn’t through on goal and one on one with the keeper. He had his standing leg swept from under him. Clear penalty. Jota had the slightest of touches, could have gone past the keeper and knocked the ball into the empty net, but no, he took 3 strides then fell to the ground. Never a penalty!
Whether it is Owen, Wright, “Shit show” Shearer, Neville, Crooks or any other so-called expert pundit, they all get paid to hear the sound of their own voices and spout “wisdom”. Like the English Ref’s and commentators, the only thing consistent about them is their inconsistency.