Alan Shearer was left baffled by Luke Ayling’s actions and his decision to go to ground and give away a costly penalty during Leeds United’s 4-1 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday at the Emirates.
Leeds United were possibly heading into the half-time break against the Premier League leaders goalless, before Luke Ayling proceeded to lunge into a tackle and bring down Gabriel Jesus.
The Brazil international, who was making his first Premier League start for the Gunners since the World Cup, dispatched his spot-kick and it was then a long road ahead for the Yorkshire side.
North London isn’t a great hunting ground for Ayling and the £20k-a-week star (Spotrac) has had past issues of making reckless and costly errors.
Last season, when 2-0 down to Arsenal, Ayling proceeded to lunge in on Gabriel Martinelli and get himself sent off in the first half – his team ended up losing that match, but it didn’t cost them relegation.
The issue for the Whites is that every little helps in their quest to survive again, as Shearer called Ayling’s actions at the Emirates ‘stupid’, as he told Match of the Day.
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“I don’t know what Luke Ayling is doing,” said Shearer. “It’s a stupid challenge there. He actually kicks him in the knee, so yes, absolutely the right decision (to award the penalty).”
LEEDS NEED TO MOVE ON
Just like their win over Wolves before the international break, they can’t go too high or too low during winning and losing moments.
It’s time to move on and concentrate on two humdinger clashes next week, starting with Tuesday night’s visit of Nottingham Forest, before Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace visit Yorkshire.
At the rate Leeds are going, more than likely, this relegation dogfight will go down to the last few weeks, and perhaps, the final day again.
In other news, Photo: Mikel Arteta calls up ‘tremendous’ Arsenal wonderkid Reuell Walters ahead of Leeds clash
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