The Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno is poised to avoid retrospective action from the Football Association despite his unsavoury altercation with a Bournemouth ballboy.
Leno pushed a ballboy during the second half of Fulham’s 3-0 Boxing Day defeat at Bournemouth after retrieving the ball before a goal-kick. The Germany international had been booked earlier in the game but escaped further punishment from the referee, Tim Robinson.
After the match Marco Silva said he was confident Leno would avoid being disciplined by the FA. Shortly after the flashpoint Leno apologised to the ballboy during a break in play, hugging and high-fiving the youngster. It is understood because the referee did not see fit to take further action against Leno, retrospective action is unlikely.
“I didn’t see him [Leno] push the ballboy,” Silva said. “He touched the ballboy, he didn’t push the ballboy – they are different things. I’m not English but I know the difference between one word and the other.”
The officials sought to take the heat out of the situation by ordering the ballboys to stand down from duty for the rest of the game. The Premier League later confirmed the multi-ball system was withdrawn on 79 minutes, to the annoyance of the Fulham manager. “If it was there until that moment, it should be there until the last minute of the game,” the Portuguese said.
Silva also suggested the ballboys were under orders to slow play, something his opposite number, Andoni Iraola, flatly denied. “There is no instruction, I can guarantee,” the Bournemouth head coach said. “I think everyone has to be careful because they are boys that are trying to help everyone.”
Bournemouth, who travel to Tottenham on Sunday, have won six of their past seven matches. No Premier League side has accrued more points from their past nine matches than Bournemouth’s 22. “I got asked the question already: ‘Are you looking at European football?’” said Justin Kluivert, who opened the scoring, before a Dominic Solanke penalty and Luis Sinisterra’s strike sealed victory.
“I said: ‘We put the bar there, for sure and nothing less, and let’s see where we’re going to end up.’ We’re not looking down, that’s for sure. Always up.”
