‘Clumsy’ - Ian Wright and Roy Keane disagree about Bristol City penalty claim vs Man City
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Bristol City had a big shout for a penalty in the first half of their fifth-round FA Cup tie against Manchester City, as Mark Sykes appeared to be bundled over in the penalty area.
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Hide AdThe winger drove into the box and went down under a firm challenge from Rico Lewis, but despite the Robins’ claims for a third spot-kick in three matches, their appeals were waved away by experienced referee Andre Marriner.
There is no VAR at this stage of the competition, but Ian Wright believes that the incident would’ve been one that the assistant referee would’ve examined.
“It's one of those where if there was VAR it'd be worth looking at,” he said in the ITV studio.
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Hide Ad“Simply because I think it's clumsy... Because his going into the box and once he gets in there his arm goes on him...and then you feel like, just there...it's clumsy. It's one of those which could have been given... It's not much, but enough.”
However, despite the ex-Arsenal man’s opinion, Manchester United legend Roy Keane didn’t share the same feeling and was critical of Sykes for not going for goal rather than looking to be fouled in the box.
“I think his focus should have been to get the shot away, I think his focus was winning a penalty. His priorities were all wrong,” the pundit said.
The visitors led 1-0 through Phil Foden’s early strike at the time, and if the penalty was given, it could’ve changed the entire complexion of the tie.
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