Danny Murphy has criticized Ivan Toney for his challenge on Fulham’s Saka Lukic during Brentford’s win over Fulham. Toney scored the winning goal from a penalty in the second half, but Murphy believes that he should have been sent off for his challenge on Lukic just before half time. The challenge left Lukic with a cut on his face after being kicked by Toney. Referee Anthony Taylor did not give Toney a yellow card, but Murphy claims that the 26-year-old should have been sent off for deliberately straightening his leg when making the challenge.
Murphy, who was commentating for talkSPORT, said that he used to tackle in the same way as Toney, going over the top with a straight leg and leaving it there. He claimed that Toney knew what he was doing and that it was a red card offence. Murphy added that the way to get away with saying that you are not trying to hurt an opponent is to always say that you are trying to protect yourself. He believes that VAR would have checked the incident but interpreted it as an accident.
Lukic got his own reprieve moments later as he avoided a second yellow card despite wiping out Yoane Wissa with the Brentford forward looking to bear down on goal. This let-off will have been scant consolation for the visitors on 53 minutes when Toney side-footed Brentford into a 2-1 lead after Christian Norgaard was felled inside the box. Earlier, a deflected effort from Ethan Pinnock put the home side in front before Manor Solomon’s header on the rebound levelled the scores. After Toney’s spot-kick Brentford went 3-1 up thanks to Mathias Jensen’s strike. Carlos Vinicius scored a consolation goal in the final moments of stoppage-time as the match finished 3-2 to the Bees.
Murphy’s criticism of Toney’s challenge is based on his experience as a former professional footballer. He believes that Toney deliberately straightened his leg when making the challenge and that this should have resulted in a red card. However, the referee did not see it that way and allowed Toney to stay on the pitch. Despite this, Brentford went on to win the match thanks to Toney’s winning goal from a penalty.