Leicester City’s Harry Maguire laments Marc Albrighton’s 50-50 red card
Leicester City defender Harry Maguire has said that he laments the 50-50 decision that went against Marc Albrighton, as he was sent off in the 5-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.
Albrighton was shown the red card early in the second-half for bringing down Wilfred Zaha, and followed it up with an argument with referee Mike Dean, who is known for not taking any words from the players too kindly.
As Leicester City now await confirmation on whether Marc Albrighton’s suspension will extend beyond the game against West Ham United, Harry Maguire has come out to express his opinion on the decision.
While the 25-year old was disappointed to fall behind despite there being “nothing in the game” in the first half, he believes that it was the sending off that effectively ended any hopes of a comeback for Claude Puel’s side.
"“We found ourselves 2-0 down at half-time but I think you have to look at the game and at 0-0 there was nothing in the game,” said Maguire, who was penalised for a foul on Christian Benteke in the last minute which the Palace substitute converted himself to make it 5-0.“It was end to end and we had two great chances to take the lead, but they go up the other end and score. So it is was disappointing in that regard to go in 2-0 behind.“We made changes and were trying to get back into the game, but the sending off kills the game and the game slips out of our hands.“It was one of them, you see it given and sometimes not. The referees let it go because he didn’t think it was, and he is close, but the linesman has flagged and the referee has sent him off.“It is 50-50. It was the same with the penalty. You are 4-0 down and down to 10 men, and it is 90 minutes and he goes down when the ball is out of play. You don’t really see them given in football.“The red card was disappointing because we felt we had some momentum in the second half to go and push and put them under pressure. It just killed the game.”"
Marc Albrighton’s red card came shortly after Wilfred Ndidi had to be brought off as he picked up a hamstring injury. It also came at a time when Leicester were starting to look good. Maguire thinks the Nigerian’s injury was another thing that “went against us”.
"“That was another thing that went against us.“We made two substitutions and started the half pretty well. We knew we had to put them under pressure and get the next goal.“Then Wilf goes off and he has been influential in our play this season.“Then the third sub comes on and we have a man sent off straight away.“We had to swap and change things around.“Without making excuses we weren’t good enough and we have to move on to the next game.”"
Leicester City will undoubtedly feel hard done by both luck and the referee, but the 5-0 defeat was only and only the result of their own doings on the field – not their fortunes or the refereeing.
Next: Christian Fuchs to leave Leicester City at the end of next season
If they are to finish the season on a high, they’ve got to put that shambolic display behind them, and think about producing something when they take on West Ham United. The only problem? The squad.