Chris Sutton slammed Leeds United and Chelsea duo, Wilfried Gnonto and Conor Gallagher, for diving, as he urged them to ‘stop it’, as he told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
The former striker was making reference to Leeds’ recent game against Cardiff City in the FA Cup and Chelsea’s defeat to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, where he felt that Conor Gallagher was diving ‘again’.
As a result of that, Sutton gave Gnonto the unwanted award of being the ‘winner’ for this week’s simulation game.
Gnonto’s actions came during Leeds’ 2-2 draw against Championship side Cardiff City in the FA Cup, as he tried to win a penalty in the first half.
Luckily for the home team, the on-field referee quickly spotted the forward’s actions and a free-kick was awarded the other way.
Nonetheless, this is what Chris Sutton made of both Gallagher and Gnonto, as he urged the Leeds youngster to ‘cut that part out of your game’.
“Conor Gallagher, the con man, come on, he is better than that,” said Sutton. “He went down too easily. We are going to keep calling you out con man because you have had previous of this.
“But the winner of this week’s simulation game. Dirty Leeds. Gnonto. No, no, no. Did you see this dive?! It was awful. It was horrendous. Simulation. We are going to call you out. You might be a top young player. You might be super-talented and you might have great ability.
“But cut that part out of your game, Gnonto, because you are this week’s winner of the cup competition you don’t want to win. Stop it.”
STRONGER ACTION ON DIVERS
Until players are either suspended or sent off, or just severely punished for diving, then it will just continue to occur during games.
Sometimes, especially a player like Gnonto, given the speed he runs at, even the smallest of contacts could result in him ending up on the floor.
But there is no doubt that throughout the Premier League, from Mo Salah to Jamie Vardy, players exaggerate falls and, as a result, if bans of some sort are implemented, then it will quickly go away from the game.
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