Former England striker Gary Lineker blames Leicester vs. Napoli referee Tiago Martins, but praises the Partenopei saying they can win Serie A.
On Thursday, Napoli recovered from two goals down at the King Power Stadium, collecting a 2-2 draw in their opening Europa League group stage game.
The Foxes midfielder Wilfred Ndidi was sent off in the final minutes of the game after collecting his second yellow card.
The decision was too harsh, according to Leicester City coach Brendan Rodgers.
“I didn’t think the referee was very good,” he said.
“Ndidi was unfortunate and has done really well to get through the game to get to that point after the early yellow. He’s just trying to stop the attacker.
“It was a little bit harsh, I didn’t think the first one was a yellow. I didn’t think the referee was great.”
Leicester and England legend Gary Lineker seems to share the same view as the Foxes’ coach as the 60-year-old aimed a dig at the Portuguese match official on Twitter.
“Cracking game of football. Some excellent goals. Two very good sides. Even the referee couldn’t spoil it. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if Napoli win Serie A,” the former striker wrote.
The Partenopei missed out on a top-four finish under Gennaro Gattuso last term. A draw against Hellas Verona at the Stadio Maradona in the last match of the season allowed Juventus to book their place for this season’s Champions League.
With Luciano Spalletti in charge, Napoli have collected nine points from their opening three Serie A games of the season and will face Udinese at the Dacia Arena on Monday night.
Napoli and Leicester meet again in Naples on December 9.
Cracking game of football. Some excellent goals. Two very good sides. Even the referee couldn’t spoil it. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if @en_sscnapoli win Serie A.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) September 16, 2021
If he actually watched Italian football he would understand how stupid that statement is. Napoli didn’t play great from the parts of the game I saw, but attacked with intent when a good chance presented itself.
It was indeed a cracking game, Napoli should have won in my opinion. As for the ref, two yellows do make a red I’m afraid.
Gary, like most English pundits, obviously hasn’t watch Serie A since the 80’s. The rest of us would be very, very surprised, Gaz.
Keep whining, you should have lost this game.
Napoli controlled the tempo most of the game and missed several chances to score.Finishing is still the most important and difficult aspect of the game. The fact that they came back in Leicester a difficult place to play is a tribute to the team and Spaletti. Napoli will be a factor in the Scudetto so beware. The Northcentric bias of the league and media needs to adjust to other teams that are on the rise and will challenge for the title. The winds of change are blowing in Serie A.
Napoli had enough chances to have easily won that game. They pressed Leicester’s defence into givin’ the ball away countless times + their passing left Leicester chasing shadows!
But a draw is a big result, as it will help Napoli’s belief + mentality! The only other thing I noticed was that some of the players still look a bit lackadaisical + like they’re still on their summer hols. They did have a tendency to switch off sometime’s, in the most dangerous areas of the pitch too, but it’s still early in the season + they aren’t at 100% yet. Spalletti’s right, they did brilliant not to chuck the towel in at 0-2.