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24

2019 Abraham And Pulisic Mick McCarthy Says VAR

13th, Score Again As Blues McCarthy c has Is ‘Ruining’ Football
M
k
i
November claimed VAR is
ruining football

referees used to
| Defeat Crystal Palace after admitting
get “95%” of
EXAMINER Tfired Chelsea to a naming their youngest block Willian’s shot. decisions cor-
ammy Abraham and
rect anyway.
Christian
Pulisic
Premier League starting line-
However, it took just six
The Republic
up, with an average age of
minutes after the interval for
IRISH sixth straight Premier just over 24. Abraham to break the dead- of Ireland boss
was
mystified
They made a bright and
lock.
League win as they over-
after David McGoldrick, who trained with his international
Mateo Kovacic was the
busy start with 19-year-old
came Crystal Palace 2-0 at
Stamford Bridge. full-back Reece James, mak- architect, brushing off a cou- team-mates in Abbotstown today, was denied a goal in
England striker Abraham ing his first top-flight start, ple of challenges in a con- Sheffield United’s 1-1 Premier League draw at Tottenham
took his league goal tally for forcing Vicente Guaita to tip gested midfield before find- on Saturday.
the season to 10 and in-form a dangerous cross away. ing Willian with a clever What would have been an equalizer for the Blades was
midfielder Pulisic grabbed his Willian then fed Pulisic, reverse pass. ruled out by the video assistant referee because John
fifth in five games. who danced past a sliding The Brazilian’s neat flick Lundstram’s toe was adjudged to have been offside after a
After the thrills and spills Joel Ward in the area only to on the edge of the box teed lengthy wait, leaving more than one member of the
of the 4-4 midweek be foiled by Guaita at his up Abraham, who strode for- McCarthy family perplexed.
Champions League draw near post. ward and confidently buried The Ireland boss said: “My view is that it’s ruining it at
with Ajax, this was back to Palace, without a win in his shot past Guaita. the minute, it’s ruining it as a spectacle.
the domestic Saturday job for their previous three matches, Pulisic, having another “My son was at the Tottenham game on Saturday and he
Frank Lampard’s side. were living dangerously fine game, almost grabbed an said, ‘Dad, it was four minutes and they all start booing…’ It
They endured a frustrat- throughout the first half, immediate second with a bul- was the most ridiculous decision I’ve seen.
ing first half against an obdu- inviting Chelsea on but keep- let towards the top corner “We used to complain about referees and now we com-
rate, well-drilled Palace, but ing them at bay on the edge but Guaita managed to keep plain about somebody that we can’t see. I suppose that’s
found a way through after of the area. it out. anonymous for them, that’s OK.”
the break. They gave away plenty of Palace briefly threatened McCarthy, who is preparing for a friendly against New
It meant defeat for Roy free-kicks around the box but an equalizer but James Zealand on Thursday evening and a crunch Euro 2020 qual-
Hodgson in his 300th Willian, Emerson and Mason Tomkins headed wide from a ifier clash with Denmark four days later, admitted he has not
Premier League match as a Mount took it in turns to corner. been averse throughout his career to moaning about offi-
manager while Lampard, miss the target. Instead, Chelsea killed off cials.
with 288 games less under his A frustrating opening peri- the visitors with 11 minutes However, he also acknowledged that he and long-time
belt, saw his side climb – od for the hosts ended when remaining when Pulisic fed assistant Terry Connor would always sit down on a Monday
temporarily at least – to sec- Pulisic headed N’Golo Michy Batshuayi in the area, morning to review the weekend’s game and often discov-
ond in the table. Kante’s cross over the top, continued his run and got on ered that the referees were right more often than not.
Chelsea’s youth revolu- before former Chelsea stal- the end of the striker’s He said: “TC and I would always watch the games back
tion continued with Lampard wart Gary Cahill slid in to deflected shot. C on a Monday morning. Despite the fact we might have been
having a bleat and a whinge about the referees, Monday
morning, 95 per cent, I would say, of the decisions they got
right.
“There might be a throw-in and then there would be an
odd one where it’s a real blatant one and we’d be moaning,
and then there would be a blatant one in our favor and then
there wouldn’t be one for two or three months and at the
end of the season, it probably equaled itself out.
“And despite all this technology, I’m still not sure that
they get the decisions right, so I preferred it before, I must
be honest.” C

Neil Warnock Leaves Cardiff City
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock has left his position by mutual con-
sent, the club have announced.
Warnock, 70, was appointed in October 2016 with the
club second from bottom in the Sky Bet Championship and
guided them to promotion to the Premier League in 2018.
“Cardiff City Football Club can confirm that manager
Neil Warnock has left his position by mutual agreement and
with immediate effect,” read a statement on the club’s offi-
cial website.
“Having joined the club in October 2016, Neil oversaw
144 matches and famously led us to promotion at the end of
a fantastic 2017/18 season.
“The board will now begin the process of replacing Neil.
An announcement to this effect will be made in due course.”
Cardiff were relegated after just one season back in the
top flight and are currently 14th in the Championship after
Tammy Abraham celebrates scoring his 10th goal of the season with team-mates Willian and Christian Pulisic one win in their last six league matches. C