Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka probably woke up this morning with a sore head after he was pole-axed by Cristiano Ronaldo last night on international duty.
Portugal carved out a 1-0 win over Slovakia last night in the Euro 2024 Qualifiers via a fine strike by Manchester United‘s Bruno Fernandes.
However it was a former Manchester United player in Cristiano Ronaldo who will grab the headlines after somehow escaping a red card after a clash with Newcastle‘s Martin Dubravka.
Was Ronaldo lucky to escape with just a yellow card?
After completely scuffing a shot, Ronaldo followed the ball in to try and beat the on-rushing Dubravka, but in doing so slid in and collided with the Slovakian ‘keeper but in doing so, his trailing leg connected with the 34-year-old’s face.
Dubravka was flat out on the floor as the referee brandished a yellow card and VAR checked whether further action was required. VAR were happy with the on-field decision and after a few minutes, Dubravka was able to continue.
The incident is one of those that will be interpreted different ways by different people depending on their bias. The way Ronaldo’s leg moved it did look deliberate in slow motion, but in real time he was probably just trying to steady himself. You can make your own mind up here: Viaplay’s Highlights.
Dubravka played the remaining half an hour with no issues
It was a worrying couple of minutes for Newcastle fans who feared that Dubravka could be the latest player to join the injury list, but he eventually got to his feet and played the remaining 30-or-so minutes.
With Nick Pope seemingly having some crisis of confidence it wouldn’t have been a good time to lose our second choice goalie.
Pope isn’t likely to be dropped by Eddie Howe after a couple of poor games, but at least now he still has the option of having his second choice available.
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