Whites forward Bamford is banned for two games in the aftermath of Marcelo Bielsa’s side’s draw against Villa at Elland Road.
Leeds United forward Patrick Bamford has been handed a two-match ban by the Football Association for ‘successfully deceiving a match official’ during the Whites’ 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at Elland Road last weekend.
Midway through the second half of the game between the two Championship high flyers, Marcelo Bielsa’s side opened the scoring during a passage in play in which Villa’s Jonathan Kodjia was down injured.
After Mateusz Klich got the goal, a melee between both sets of players ensued, during which Anwar El Ghazi was sent off by referee Stuart Attwell for having been adjudged to have hit out at Bamford – although replays suggested there was no contact.
In the aftermath of the draw, El Ghazi’s red card was rescinded, while Bamford was charged, and on Thursday the FA confirmed that the Leeds striker will serve a two-match suspension with immediate effect (FA Spokesperson Twitter).
In response, the Elland Road side issued a statement in which they said Bamford did not deny the charge but requested a hearing to contest the penalty imposed on the player.
“The club felt that given the circumstances surrounding the incident, including the extraordinary act of sportsmanship which saw our head coach Marcelo Bielsa demand our team to allow Aston Villa to score an uncontested equaliser, we could have a sensible discussion around the sanction,” wrote the club.
“We acknowledge that the FA panel did not feel that to be reasonable and the club therefore joins Patrick in accepting the two-match ban.”
The FA had also ruled that a punch thrown by Villa’s Conor Hourihane at Klich during the same melee was not deserving of a violent conduct charge, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.
Here is what some Leeds fans said about the Bamford sanction and the club’s statement on Twitter:
Bamford will miss United’s final game of the 2018-19 campaign, away at Ipswich Town, as well as the first leg of their playoff semi-final.
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