We were given the great gift of a midweek Match of the Day last night, with the short turnaround between the full-time whistles and the beginning of the broadcast meaning giving you a decent chance of watching without knowing the scores beforehand.
Listen to this week's edition of the Balls.ie Football Show, featuring an exclusive chat with Ron Atkinson:
There were plenty of goals, too. All but one game finished goalless: the outlier being Stoke's home tie with Southampton. The main talking point from that game surrounded referee Anthony Taylor and his red cards: he sent off Stoke's Marco Arnautovic, a decision Stoke did not complain about. The club did find fault with Shane Long, however.
The club's official account tweeted that Bruno Martins-Indi had fallen to the floor, following what they perceived was a "deliberate elbow" by the Irish striker.
Martins Indi is down, Shane Long purposely elbows him off the ball. The main men didn't see it #SCFC 0-0 #SaintsFC
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) December 14, 2016
The incident was flagged on Match of the Day, and there was absolutely nothing in it. Here's the moment the two men came together, with Long possibly nudging Martins-Indi in the chest. It was nothing more than a bump, however, and it should not have elicited the response that followed.
Martins-Indi takes a step back to decide whether he is going to fall...
...which he soon does.
The linesman is in a really good position to see that, too.
Alan Shearer addressed it afterward, and he too said that there was nothing in it.
See Also: Morgan Schneiderlin Is On The Move, And It Could Be Bad News For James McCarthy
