Jeepers keepers... The full story behind Fabianski refusal to be subbed against Spurs
AS well as Tottenham’s lastgasp fightback, one of the main talking points from Swansea City’s defeat on Wednesday night was the substitution – or rather lack of it – of Lukasz Fabianski.
His insistence on not going off baffled many, with the tension feverpitch inside the Liberty Stadium and the clock ticking down with the Swans a goal to the good.
The board went up for Fabianski to be replaced by reserve goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt, but the Poland international made it clear he was staying put.
Spurs then proceeded to smash home three goals in less than seven minutes to deny the Swans.
But what actually happened? Here we take a close look at how events unfolded during a chaotic finish... Fabianski is hurt by Janssen’s challenge (81st minute) The Fabianski drama begins with Swansea under huge pressure as Tottenham come forward in search of the equaliser.
Spurs substitute Vincent Janssen sends the ball into Dele Alli, who flicks it over the Swansea defence in an attempt to pick out the Dutchman’s onward run.
An alert Fabianski sees the danger and races off his line to deny Janssen. The two men clatter into each other and end up on the deck.
Fabianski initially moves to get up, but soon doubles over in pain and the Swansea medical team are summoned onto the field by referee Jon Moss to attend to the goalkeeper. Fabianski stays on, part one (83rd minute) As Fabianski is treated, there is activity on the Swansea bench as reserve keeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt is readied for action in case a change has to be made.
A stretcher is sent on for Fabianski, but he gets to his feet, appearing to be feeling knocks to his knee and his side, and the stretcher is waved away.
The Liberty Stadium crowd roar their approval and that appears to be the end of the matter. Adrenaline is surging as the Swans seek to preserve their lead.
Fabianski restarts play, but does not look comfortable taking a kick. Brilliantly denying Alli (85th minute) Appearing to be in discomfort, Fabianski looks to feel his rib area on a couple of occasions as play continues. However, any pain is put to one side as he pulls off an absolutely stunning stop to deny what seems a certain goal by Alli.
From Christian Eriksen’s cross, the England man makes good contact with his header which looks destined for the corner of the net.
But Alli has reckoned without Fabianski, who springs to his left and manages to claw the ball away and preserve the Swans’ slender lead.
The Swans fans vociferously roar their approval once more. Fabianski stays on, part two (86th min) While this is going on, Nordfeldt is being stripped, ready for action on the bench with boss Paul Clement and his staff considering Fabianski to be carrying a problem that needs him to come off.
They also believe the keeper has signalled to them that he needs to leave the field after raising his hand towards the bench.
At the next stoppage, Nordfeldt comes to the touchline with Clement, and fourth official Tim Robinson holds aloft the board for the number 13 to take the place of number 1.
However, upon spotting the board, Fabianski immediately and forcefully signals that he has no intention of coming off. TV pictures show the 31-year-old shouting ‘No, No!’ while making a gesture waving away the change.
To emphasise his views further, Fabianski remonstrates once more with two hands to make it clear he feels he is fine to carry on.
Nordfeldt and Clement still stand waiting for him to come off, before the head coach turns to the fourth official and seems to indicate the change won’t be happening any more.
A frustrated Nordfeldt heads back to the dug-out as referee Moss, clearly perplexed with what is going on, runs from penalty box to the touchline to try to get to the bottom of things himself.
The official has a brief conversation with Clement and his fourth official, and then also fleetingly speaks to Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino.
The nature of the discussion with the Argentine appears to suggest Moss is asking him if he is happy for Fabianski to stay on, although it turns out this is not the case.
Fabianski remains in place, the game continues.
The Spurs players, evidently thinking Fabianski has a problem, immediately start pinging in shots. Even centre-back Toby Alderweireld ventures forward to try his hand from distance. Fabianski is beaten three times (88th min to 95th min) The game continues and, less than two minutes on, Tottenham equalise. Eriksen’s volley comes through a sea of players, takes a deflection and rolls into the path of Alli for the midfielder to tap home.
The board goes up indicating seven minutes of injury time, some of it stemming from the Fabianski episode.
With the wind firmly in their sails, Tottenham surge forward once again and they quickly take the lead. Son Heung-min gets away from Martin Olsson to latch on to Janssen’s backheel and lift the ball over Fabianski.
Eriksen goes on to rub salt into the wounds with a classy finish from a swift Spurs counter to complete Swansea’s misery. What did the managers and players have to say? Paul Clement apologised to the officials at the time of the incident, and said Fabianski had indicated to the bench that he needed to come off, which prompted them to get Nordfeldt ready.
“Lukasz has made a great stop in that challenge (with Janssen), he hurt himself and looked like he needed to come off,” explains Clement. “Then he felt he could continue, then there was a signal ‘I need to come off’. That’s why Nordfeldt was looking like he was going on.
“The board went up, there was a breakdown in communication at that point. The referee dealt with it well, I apologised to him, I felt he needed to come off, he was fine and he carried on.”
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said he had sympathy for the predicament Clement found himself in, although he may not have been so charitable had Fabianski gone on to keep a clean sheet.
“It was very difficult for the manager. It was a tricky situation and I totally understood. I didn’t want to take advantage. When I spoke to the referee, he just said he would add a minute on for the delay,” he said.
Swansea striker Oli McBurnie was preparing to defend a set-piece when Fabianski started making his protestations to the bench.
He said: “I just heard Fab shouting that he wanted to stay on, and in the end he did. If Fab wants to stay on I don’t think anyone is going to argue with him!” Did Swansea break any rules? No, they did not. As strange an incident as it was, there were no rules broken, even though the electronic board stated Fabianski was to be withdrawn.
Rules on substitutions state the following:
“If a player who is to be replaced refuses to leave, play continues.
The substitute only enters the field during a stoppage in play at the halfway line.
After the player being replaced has left.
After receiving a signal from the referee.
The substitution is completed when a