Gary Lineker interrupts disgusted Alan Shearer over Man Utd controversy - ‘Absolute rubbish’

Manchester United beat Manchester City after Diogo Dalot avoided being shown a red card after a reckless challenge on Diogo Dalot inside ten minutes of kick-off

Gary Lineker interrupted Alan Shearer during a discussion about Diogo Dalot's challenge on Jeremy Doku in the Manchester derby to defend referee Anthony Taylor. The Manchester United player only received a yellow card, with video assistant referee Craig Pawson checking and confirming the call.

Premier League Match Centre acknowledged during the match that Dalot's challenge was reckless. However, they said it was not worthy of a red card, "with the contact deemed to be glancing and not with excessive force."

Shearer, however, disagreed. The pundit made that clear on Match of the Day before doubling down on The Rest is Football.

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He said of United: "They got lucky with what should have been a red card for Dalot. There's no doubt about it.

"What on Earth were the VARs [Pawson and assistant video assistant referee Adrian Holmes] thinking. Then they said that it was more of a glancing [blow] rather than it was just straight-on, absolute rubbish."

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Lineker at that point interjected while Shearer was still speaking. He said: "I totally get your point, Alan, but the one thing I'll go back to, as well, in normal time [at normal speed], it didn't look [like] anything. Yeah, [in] slow motion [it did], but you're right."

Shearer continued: "Yeah, and I get that with the referee, but they've bought VAR in to look at things like that. The referee couldn't see it, I get that, and I understand that, but that is a terrible challenge, that is endangering an opponent, which means a red card.

"For the two [VARs, Pawson and Holmes] to sit in there [the VAR Hub at Stockley Park] and think, 'no, that was OK. It was just a yellow.' I mean, honestly."

However, he did go on to give United credit for their performance. Shearer said: "But anyway, that's not their fault that he didn't get sent off, and they made the most of it.

"They were absolutely brilliant. They created chances; they made Man City look very average, they stopped [Erling] Haaland, in fact, they stopped everything that Man City are very good at in terms of blocking spaces, stopping balls into the forwards, into [Phil] Foden et cetera.

"They thoroughly deserved it. It should have been, could have been more. They were outstanding.

"That has to be the norm for them every week now. It has to be the norm in terms of the energy."

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