Fulham goalkeeper shoves Bournemouth ballboy before ref gets stewards to step in
Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno was involved in a bizarre altercation with a Bournemouth ballboy during their Premier League game at the Vitality Stadium.
With the Cherries winning 2-0, Leno was in a rush to take a goal kick. But he was unhappy with the speed at which the young boy was handing the ball back to him so Leno grabbed it from his arms and proceeded to push him.
Leno, who was already on a yellow card for attempting to delay Dominic Solanke from taking a penalty kick, was then confronted by the Cherries striker while fans behind the goal vented their fury. Referee Tim Robinson gestured for play to continue and a steward was seen speaking with the ballboy to see if he was OK.
During the next break in play Leno approached the boy to apologise and gave him a hug. However, with supporters still fuming, Robinson then spoke with a member of the home side's security and the ballboy was relocated to a seat in the stands.
Fulham boss Marco Silva defended his goalkeeper and insisted that while Leno “touched” the boy it was not sufficient to call it a “push.” And he suggested that the ballboys had been instructed to take their time so Bournemouth could preserve their two-goal cushion.
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Silva said: “I spoke with Bernd about it. It’s clear he spoke to the boy after the moment. Top professional he is, he wanted to play quick but the ball boys were holding the ball.
“I don’t know who give them the instructions to hold it. He touched the ball boy, not pushed him - they are different things. I’m not English but I know the difference. He touched him.
“The fourth official was clear the ball boys were delaying the game. We wanted to play quick. The ball boys did their job with instructions to delay the game. At that moment the referee decided to end the multi-ball.”
(Sean Ryan/IPS/REX/Shutterstock)But Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, who watched from the stands as he served a one-match suspension, said there were no instructions to the ballboys. He said: “I don’t want to make anything because I’ve not seen it repeated.
"I don’t know what happened exactly but everyone has to be careful because they are boys who are trying to help everyone, not only Bournemouth, all parties involved.”
Kevin Campbell, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, declared: "Bernd Leno is out of order. He shouldn’t put his hand on the ballboy. The ballboys are told if their team is winning, you slow the game down. We all know this.
"Just go and grab the ball, you don’t need to put your hand on his chest."
A dreadful day for Bernd Leno - should he have been sent off? (James Marsh/REX/Shutterstock)It compounded a bad day for Leno, who should have done better to keep out Justin Kluivert's first-half opener, while he dived the wrong way as Solanke doubled the Cherries' advantage from 12 yards near the hour mark.
Luis Sinisterra fired home a stunning third for the Cherries in injury time, who have been in red hot form, now unbeaten in their last seven Premier League outings.
Andoni Iraola's side last tasted defeat in a 6-1 thrashing by Manchester City on November 4. Since then they've won six and drawn one, taking 19 points from a possible 21.
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Dion Dublin, speaking on Final Score, was in no doubts that the main protagonist behind Bournemouth's rise is striker Dominic Solanke, in outstanding goalscoring form of late. He said: "Dominic Solanke has hit a purple patch. The ball is just going into the back of the net, whether it’s off his knee, off his shoulders.
"You know you are doing OK when defenders are looking for you. The defenders now are thinking 'respect', they are giving him a yard. He's got his head down. We all know what he can do - now he is doing it."
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