After a fairly tedious 24 hours re-litigating the intricacies of the offside law, it is pleasant to be reminded that sometimes football’s rules can be a source of fun. Full marks to Fulham and specifically Aleksandar Mitrovic for the mess he made of his 69th-minute penalty against Newcastle United.
His shot from the spot beat Nick Pope but the United goalkeeper raced off his line immediately to protest, as a delighted Mitrovic wheeled away and Fulham’s fans celebrated high in the Leazes Stand. Pope had spotted what was not immediately obvious from a distance, Mitrovic’s odd looping shot had actually involved two touches of the ball.
The Serbian striker slipped at the end of his run-up, meaning his right-footed shot came straight back off the bottom of his standing leg. This, of course, is not allowed.
Some confusion initially in the aftermath, with some expecting a re-take. Referee Robert Jones knew better than that, as you would hope for a top-flight official, and awarded Newcastle a free kick.
This takes some doing: turning the near-gimme of a goal promised by a penalty into a free kick for the opposing team. Even more galling, it was not an attempt to reinvent the notion of the penalty, like the memorably botched Robert Pires pass to Thierry Henry in the final season at Highbury.
Mitrovic’s howler came after a long delay, which itself followed a long delay. Kieran Trippier’s foul on Bobby Decordova-Reid was initially waved away by Jones before the Var rolled into action. Then Newcastle deployed all of the mindgames at their disposal. There was a solid minute of delaying tactics, standing on the spot, hoarding the ball, even introducing a second ball into proceedings at one point.
There is a term for this in American football, distracting a player before attempting an important field goal: icing the kicker. Mitrovic seems like a fairly un-iceable fellow, generally composed and reliable in the key moments of a football match, although a heavy out-breath shortly before starting his run-up possibly betrayed some nerves.
So it proved when he lost his footing at the crucial moment. At least now we know whether he would celebrate a goal against his former club.
Aleksandar Mitrovic accidentally channelled Henry and Pires in botched penalty
Serbian striker slipped at the end of his run-up, meaning his right-footed spotkick struck his standing leg before it went in