Leeds United defender Liam Cooper’s tackle on Gabriel Jesus has been slammed by BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks.
Cooper was sent off after a VAR review during Leeds’ 2-1 win over Manchester City at the weekend.
The Leeds captain came hurtling out of defence to try and win possession, but in doing so he caught Jesus on the knee.
The tackle was deemed reckless upon review, and although Leeds’ performance impressed Crooks, he was very critical of Cooper in his column.
“I thought this might happen. If there was one team that could upset Manchester City at Etihad Stadium it was Leeds, but I didn’t think they could do it with 10 men,” Crooks said.
“In the corresponding fixture City intimidated Leeds but Marcelo Bielsa’s men can be fearless at times and have often paid the price for their fearlessness – not this time.
“The architect of Manchester City’s downfall was Stuart Dallas. He took both his goals brilliantly and his second came after Liam Cooper was sent off for what can only be described as a horrendous tackle. Quite why Andre Marriner needed to see the incident a second time via VAR I really don’t know. Who goes to see the same horror show twice?”
When Cooper was sent off many presumed that was the beginning of the end for Leeds.
However, the Whites never gave up and somehow claimed three points despite their numerical disadvantage.
Leeds kept their defensive shape well and broke in numbers when the opportunity arose.
In the end Dallas found space on the counter and tucked it beyond Ederson to provide Leeds with surely their most impressive result in recent memory.
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