- Rico Lewis was awarded a penalty after giving away a penalty against North Macedonia
- The youngster from Manchester City made his England debut in the 1-1 draw
- Trent and Bellingham can play together, but not get in each other’s way – IAKO
Gary Lineker described North Macedonia’s penalty against England’s Rico Lewis on Monday as the ‘most ridiculous penalty decision’.
Lewis – making his senior Three Lions debut – played for Gareth Southgate’s side but was deemed at fault by VAR and match referee Filip Glova, who pointed to the spot after watching the replays.
The incident occurred in the 38th minute when Lewis tried to win an aerial duel and deftly caught Bojan Miovski with a trailing arm as he jumped.
Miovski made the most of the incident as he rolled around on the poorly conditioned pitch and a VAR check decided a penalty should be awarded after he was initially waved away by the pitch official.
Lineker denounced the penalty decision, which ultimately had little significance when England topped their qualifying group, and posted online: ‘It’s not important at all, but it is the most ridiculous penalty decision.’
Rico Lewis was controversially punished for giving away a penalty against North Macedonia
Lewis tried to win an aerial duel and deftly caught Bojan Miovski with a trailing arm as he jumped
Gary Lineker described the penalty against Lewis as the ‘most ridiculous penalty decision’
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Lewis was fortunate to recover from the incident and put in an emphatic performance for the national team, where he was later praised by his teammates and others.
The 18-year-old, who turns 19 on Tuesday, was given the England man of the match award and has been praised for giving Gareth Southgate another option to consider when choosing his final European Championship squad.
Former England captain and Chelsea legend John Terry joined Lineker in criticizing the penalty decision, saying: ‘Oh my word… How is that a penalty?’
The penalty gave the hosts an early lead in the match, before a second-half own goal brought England level at the Tose Proeski Arena in Skopje.
There would be no late winning goal as the match ended in a draw and Jamie Carragher gave his verdict on the penalty which he described as ‘bizarre’.
Carragher has been an outspoken critic of the use of VAR and the way replays are often shown in slow motion. Describing the penalty on X, he said: ‘Bizarre these VAR penalties given in Europe’.
‘What’s even more bizarre is that they didn’t give it to Maguire’ in relation to the defender’s challenge in the penalty area earlier in the match.