Gary Lineker was fuming after VAR overruled an offside decision that went against Leicester City at the weekend.
Lineker, an ardent Leicester supporter, saw his steam rising as the Foxes played at Selhurst Park this Saturday (September 14) and initially surged ahead with goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi. All seemed set for a clean win until Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta appeared to be offside when he scored, with the linesman flagging the incident immediately.
Yet, VAR's review established Mateta's position as legitimate, causing the goal to count, much to Lineker's chagrin. A late strike from Mateta from the penalty spot after Conor Coady's clumsy challenge saw the match end in a draw.
Speaking with Micah Richards and Alan Shearer in the most recent instalment of The Rest Is Football, Lineker recalled the incident, explaining: "I was a bit heart-broken Micah yesterday with Leicester. Played really well in the first half - played some good football.
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"Got 2-0 up just after half time then they had a goal that was originally ruled out for offside and then VAR decided it wasn't. I don't know how they did that but anyway. Then you just kind of thought 'Oh they're going to equalise' and of course they did, and Conor Coady... He'll know himself that he just got caught out."
Richards asked: "Did you see him with his head in his hands like 'Oh I've fell for it'? You know you've made it and you're just hoping and praying for it to be offside, or the player's dived, or something. But he just knew," before Lineker continued: "As soon as it happened I went 'Oh no, oh no'."
Shearer, meanwhile, chimed in: "It was a tough watch for him." Taking the mickey out of his fellow pundit, the Newcastle United legend quipped: "Micah you should have heard him raging yesterday when the lines were being drawn across for that offside to make it 2-1.
"There was steam coming out of those massive f***ing ears - you should have seen it. He was getting so angry, so animated." Lineker, chuckling, added: "Suspect man, suspect," while Shearer continued: "Semi-automated is on it's way." Lineker then chimed in: "I think that will be a good thing.
"We'll get it, then you're just told and then I think we'll perhaps trust it. But at the moment...The angle that they had as well, it was so unclear and when you looked at it you just wen't 'Well he's offside, he's definitely offside'." Leicester are still hunting for their first win of the 2024/25 Premier League season.
They started their campaign with a 1-1 stalemate against Spurs, before falling to a 2-1 defeat against Fulham. A 2-1 loss to Aston Villa followed, with the Foxes narrowly missing out on their first victory at the weekend against Palace.
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