‘It was accidental’ – Pundit defends John Fleck over Giovani Lo Celso incident

Former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison has claimed that John Fleck’s ugly challenge on Giovani Lo Celso was purely accidental.

The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder was left clutching the side of his head in some discomfort after the 29-year-old appeared to stamp on his head.

The incident happened just a minute into the second half when Fleck bundled over the Argentine and his boot made contact with Lo Celso, with replays showing that he appeared to look down before grounding his foot.

Despite VAR reviewing the challenge, the Scottish international escaped any punishment and was free to carry on participating in the game.

Morrison believed that Fleck jumped to try and evade Lo Celso but his boot accidentally caught the Tottenham man, with slow motion replays making the incident look more vindictive than it actually was.

Lo Celso was replaced by Harry Winks in the 70th minute and was seen watching on from the sideline with an ice pack strapped to the side of his head.

Morrison told BBC Sport’s online live blog at 20:21 on 2/5/21: “It was accidental but it is a painful one because he jumps and rakes his boot right down the side of his face. It’s not deliberate that but it doesn’t look good on the replay when you slow it down.”

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