Snodgrass slammed by Pardew for dive shocker
ALAN PARDEW blasted Hull’s Robert Snodgrass last night, saying he should be ‘embarrassed’ by the dive which won his side a penalty during yesterday’s 3-3 draw.
The Crystal Palace boss refused to criticise referee Mike Jones for awarding the first-half spot-kick, from which Snodgrass scored the game’s opening goal.
The Scotland winger, who threw himself to the ground despite Palace defender Scott Dann withdrawing his challenge, later apologised and admitted it was ‘never a penalty’.
Pardew said: ‘Fabrication would be the word I use, with my diplomatic head on. But let’s be honest, we all want it out of the game. I told the referee at half-time that I would defend him because it’s very difficult at match speed to call that right.
‘But Snodgrass really needs to have a look at himself. When he sees it back, he’ll be embarrassed.’
Snodgrass later tweeted: ‘Apologies from my end, it was never a penalty, but genuinely thought defender was going to slide, so tried to ride the tackle.’ That didn’t appease Match of the
Day host Gary Lineker, who called for diving players to be banned for three matches when ‘it is that obvious and there is zero contact’.
On an exciting day in the Premier League, when six home teams scored three or more goals for the first time since 1993, rugby union referee Nigel Owens joined calls for diving footballers to be cited.
He said: ‘Those people who tend to dive are the ones who score the goals and if you lose your best scorer for a couple of games it’s pointless having him in the club.’
IF Alan Pardew was not already silver-topped, then surely he would have turned grey during the past fortnight.
This was another bonkers game involving his Crystal Palace side, a six-goal thriller laced with controversy, comebacks, cards and calamity. For the latter, look no further than Palace’s defending.
They led 2-1 entering the final 20 minutes thanks to goals from Christian Benteke and the outstanding Wilfried Zaha, only to find themselves 3-2 behind as stoppage-time approached.
But Pardew had a hunch former Hull striker Fraizer Campbell might come back to haunt the boo boys and so it proved, the substitute salvaging a point late on.
Just two weeks ago it had been Pardew on the receiving end of a late twist when Swansea scored twice in stoppage time to steal a 5-4 victory which heaped pressure on the Palace boss.
And he must have feared another round of scrutiny and speculation after Adam Diomande and Jake Livermore exposed abject defending to score twice inside five minutes to put Hull 3-2 in front.
Of course Pardew (right) once head-butted Hull’s David Meyler on the touchline here during his time in charge of Newcastle, and he might have felt like planting his brow into several of his backline as a seventh loss in eight loomed. But Campbell kept his head to nod in unmarked and earn Palace their first point on the road since September.
‘I thought his history here might play a part and I said to my staff before the game, “I fancy Fraizer if we need a goal”,’ said Pardew, who introduced the 29-year-old with 10 minutes remaining. ‘When he came here on loan, one or two people at Hull questioned his mentality. Well he must have adjusted that, because since I’ve been working with him he’s been a model pro. He hasn’t really had enough opportunities — maybe he’ll get more now.’ Hull’s opener came via a Robert Snodgrass penalty but only after the Scotland winger — already on a booking — had conned referee Mike Jones with a blatant dive.
That 27th-minute goal came on the back of a brilliant start from Pardew’s men.
The idea of England boss Gareth Southgate asking to speak to Zaha about his intention to switch allegiance to Ivory Coast has raised eyebrows in some quarters, but his form in recent weeks suggests the Palace winger may yet have a future with the Three Lions.
It was from his burst inside five minutes — darting by two Hull men — that David Marshall was drawn into a fine save.
But after a blistering quarter of an hour, Palace faded and were behind when Snodgrass flopped to the turf inside the area despite Palace defender Scott Dann withdrawing his challenge. The identity of the scorer added insult to injustice for the Londoners.
Referee Jones was always going to level things up at the first opportunity and that chance came seven minutes into the second half. Zaha twisted in the area before inviting contact from Snodgrass and, although it was minimal, he too collapsed, with Jones pointing to the spot.
Benteke duly rolled in for his eighth goal of the season.
Palace were in front on 70 minutes. Hull were too terrified to touch Zaha and he took advantage, working half a yard for a shot before blasting high into the net.
The lead lasted just three minutes and Diomande rolled by Dann all too easily before steering beyond Wayne Hennessey.
Livermore’s effort to put Hull ahead owed as much to abject defending as it did forward flair, not that the scorer cared. He drifted through the area with zero resistance and slotted into the bottom corner for his first of the campaign. Then came Campbell’s moment and Pardew’s relief.