Adrian Durham defends Declan Rice after West Ham star booked in England v Germany
Adrian Durham has leapt to the defence of West Ham midfielder Declan Rice after he was booked in Tuesday’s crunch clash between England and Germany.
The Three Lions ultimately progressed past the visitors at Wembley after a 2-0 victory during their Euro 2020 round of 16 tie, but there was early controversy after Rice was handed a yellow card for a foul on Leon Goretzka within the first ten minutes.
The Bayern Munich dynamo appeared to be bearing down on goal before he was upended by Rice, but subsequent camera replays suggest there may have been movement from Goretzka towards the Irons star, rather than the other way around.
Writing on his personal Twitter profile the following day, talkSPORT host Durham vented his very at the decision by the officials.
He said: “England won so no Gunter grapes going on here but the yellow for Declan Rice was so ridiculous. Goretzka is running straight towards goal and then unexpectedly thrusts his leg right in front of Rice who’s running alongside him. How can Rice be penalised for running alongside him?”
Conned
There probably wasn’t many people watching on the television who batted an eyelid when the referee first whistled for a foul outside of England’s penalty box.
Goretzka looked to be through on goal with a chance to test Jordan Pickford when a huddle of White shirts surrounded him and Rice made the challenge.
It looked like a smart foul to make to stop the chance of a clear effort on goal, with a red card unlikely given the support he had around him.
But, on further reflection, it appears that Goretzka actually drew his leg into Rice in order to initiate the contact and thus throw himself to the floor in order to gain an advantage.
It’s something that probably should have been spotted on the field where they have a much clearer view, and it also shows the downfall of the use of VAR in that scenario, as incidents like that are not checked, despite it leading to a good chance to score for Germany.
As it was, Rice was the man who blocked the subsequent free-kick, and he put in a mammoth shift on a yellow card for his side as they edged their way to victory.
In other West Ham news, BBC pundit stunned by West Ham star after jaw-dropping Tuesday moment.
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