England vs Mexico bust-up as Alan Shearer says ‘punches’ thrown | Football | Sport
There was a bust-up between members of the bench of both England and Mexico in the aftermath of a red card challenge by Jarrel Quansah. Pundit Alan Shearer claimed that punches were being thrown after the host’ uproar over the England star’s ‘nasty’ challenge.
England led 2-1 at halftime thanks to goals from Jude Bellingham. But things took a dramatic turn in the second half as Jarrell Qaunsah’s red sparked off a chaotic 15 minutes, which saw a red card and two penalties.
The Bayer Leverkusen star appeared to win the ball after sliding in Jesus Gallardo, with the referee allowing play to continue. But the Mexico team were furious and replays showed his foot was high.
The incident saw both camps come to blows, with Shearer saying on BBC: “It’s all going off on the touchline, they’re scrapping, they’re punching, they’re doing whatever because the Mexican bench they think it was a terrible tackle from Quansah.
“It wasn’t, I thought I timed it really well, but he had to go in, and he had to win it, but that bench didn’t agree with the tackle, and they were all up causing chaos with the England bench as well.”
However, after a VAR review, the referee quickly made the decision to send off Quansah. Despite the bust-up, there were no cards brandished as tensions eventually calmed down.
After seeing the replay, Shearer instantly U-turned on his position, saying: “I know he gets the ball but his foot is high, there’s no doubt about it. On first viewing I thought it was one of those challenges where you can slide in and take the ball but he’s taken the ball with his left knee but he’s gone really high with that first right foot and it’s a nasty, nasty challenge and he will be fortunate if he gets away with this because it looks horrible.”
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Just minutes after the red card, there were more chaotic scenes as England increased their lead further after winning a penalty. Anthony Gordon beat Raul Rangel to the ball and was brought down by the keeper, and Harry Kane made no mistake from the penalty spot to make it 3-1 to the Three Lions.
In another dramatic twist, VAR got involved again to award Mexico a penalty after Kane’s boot caught his opponent in the box as he attempted to clear his lines. Raul Jimenez put the ball past Jordan Pickford to make it 3-2. There was also another flashpoint during the hydration break when Jorge Sanchez appeared to accuse Nico O’Reilly of elbowing him, with the ref option to book both players.
Shearer, meanwhile, hit out the decision to award Mexico a penalty. He said: “That’s a kick of the foot, that’s not a penalty for me. He does clip his foot but not enough to give a penalty away, goodness me.
“I didn’t think it was the right decision. I didn’t think it was a clear and obvious error. I didn’t think it was enough to turn it over. He gets the red card absolutely albeit by going to the screen fine but I didn’t agree the penalty going to Mexico.”
