Don Hutchison has told the Weekend Review that Ian Poveda will now change his mind about going down when Leeds play West Ham United on Friday.
During Leeds’ defeat at Stamford Bridge over the weekend, the winger was clipped by Ben Chilwell in the penalty area, and after temporarily losing his balance, he continued to carry the ball, take a shot, but the on-field referee or VAR didn’t award a spot-kick.
Many felt that the Leeds man was being too honest and if he had gone down then it would have resulted in the away team being awarded a penalty – the scores were 2-1, at the time.
Leeds will face West Ham in a few days time and BBC Sport pundit, Hutchison, stated ‘I guarantee you’ that Poveda will ‘hit the floor’ if in a similar situation because he knows he’ll get a decision in his favour.
“When we look back at the Andy Robertson scenario [v Danny Welbeck], it’s exactly the same,” said Hutchison. “So, the referees have got to be consistent. The referees have got to know. There’s contact. It’s a penalty.
“Andy Robertson on Danny Welbeck. That is [also] a penalty. With Poveda, the referees have got to say ‘it’s still a penalty, let him take a shot on’. I think they are both penalties. I really do.
“It encourages people to start diving. I guarantee you, Poveda, the manager even knows it himself, the next time he plays and he gets that contact, he’s going to go down. I am going to hit the floor because I didn’t get [the penalty v Chelsea].”
The problem with such a decision is that there is no consistency because Danny Welbeck, who didn’t go down, was awarded a penalty in his favour against Liverpool for a similar tackle, yet Poveda wasn’t.
Added with that, penalties have also been awarded for far less this season and it will, unfortunately, continue in that vein.
In truth, it’s the game and its rules that need to change rather than the players in regards to them having to hit the deck to be awarded a penalty.
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