Danny Murphy has blasted Leeds United defender Gjanni Alioski for his reaction to being head butted by Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2, which was broadcast by the BBC, Murphy felt that the Leeds full-back had deliberately made a meal out of the incident to get the Arsenal man sent off.
If that was the case then Alioski’s plan worked, as Pepe was shown a red-card after a VAR review.
But Murphy was not impressed by the way that the Leeds man reacted after the contact.
“He [Pepe] has let himself down and let the team down, it’s unacceptable,” Murphy said.
“But what is also unacceptable is Alioski’s response. Going over when he didn’t have to, that wasn’t enough to put him on his back. Too often now we see players trying to stitch up others.
“I know you’ll get players saying that’s normal now, that’s not normal to me.
“It’s not the way I grew up, it’s not the way I played the game, and that’s why Tierney, an honest lad, is fuming.”
Pepe being sent off actually didn’t seem to help Leeds as much as they may have expected.
Leeds seem to rush their play too much with the extra man, as they tried to force a goal.
In the end Marcelo Bielsa’s men just could not break through, with the two sides playing out a 0-0 draw.
That leaves Leeds sitting in 14th place in the Premier League table, while Arsenal are in 12th.
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