Sports
Micah Richards has hit back at a Manchester City fan account that criticised his feedback following the membership’s controversial find over Wolves.
The Residents came back from a goal down to relate a dramatic 2-1 victory at Molineux, courtesy of an harm-time winner from John Stones which has sparked a lot of debate.
Stones’ header was initially disallowed as referee Chris Kavanagh judged Bernardo Silva to have been interfering with play from an offside status, thus blocking off off Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.
Nonetheless, after VAR called for an on-field assessment, Kavanagh then awarded the goal after it was deemed that Silva wasn’t in Sa’s line of imaginative and prescient and had no impact on his ability to save the hassle.
The determination left Wolves manager Gary O’Neil frustrated and caused a thorough assessment within the Sky Sports studio from Richards and his fellow pundits Jamie Carragher and Daniel Sturridge.
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And after hearing the earlier City defender have his say on the controversial winner, fan page @City_Chief took to social media to criticise his feedback.
Posting on X, the account wrote: “Micah Richards says that Stones goal shouldn’t have been allowed.
“He will say anything to maintain that job at Sky Sports. He is a idiot.”
This managed to catch the attention of an angry Richards, who fired back a strong response to the accusation of a lack of integrity.
Richards, who won the Premier League with City in 2012, replied: “Stop tweeting nonsense. I said I wasn’t satisfied that Jose Sa was diagram.
“I’m still not… but when Stones heads the ball, there’s no question Silva’s not interfering. Correct decision to give the goal.”
The 36-year-used then attached a clip of his put up-match punditry on Sky Sports, which clarified his feedback on the refereeing determination.
In the studio, Richards had said: “Agreed [I think it was right to be given].”
He then went on to explain his only reservation, adding: “The only thing I would say from Wolves’ point of view, you [Jamie Carragher] have said that Jose Sa is set there, I don’t know if I agree that he’s set.
“Nevertheless when he [Stones] heads it, he [Silva] is no longer interfering, so goal given.”
The controversial winner proved crucial for City, who were able to capitalise on rivals Arsenal’s slip-up against Bournemouth a day earlier to temporarily go top of the Premier League table.
While Liverpool later regained first place with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea at Anfield, the defending champions will no doubt still be pleased with three points which at one point seemed unlikely.
Wolves had taken a shock lead on seven minutes when Jorgen Strand Larsen turned in Nelson Semedo’s cross.
Defender Josko Gvardiol then equalised for City on 33 minutes with a stunning curled effort on his weaker right foot.
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The game appeared to be heading for a 1-1 draw before Stones came up with a dramatic late header from Phil Foden’s corner in the 95th-minute.
While Pep Guardiola’s side now sit just a point behind leaders Liverpool in the table, the result piles on the pressure on Wolves, who remain bottom of the pile with just a point from their opening eight games.