Agbonlahor lambasts Ruben Dias as controversial Man City footage emerges
Ruben Dias has to learn not to jump with his arms up after he gave away a penalty as Man City lost the Community Shield 3-1 to Liverpool on Saturday (30 July).
That is the view of former Aston Villa and England attacker Gabby Agbonlahor, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the controversy at the King Power Stadium.
As shown on the highlights on BBC’s YouTube channel, the ball struck Dias’ outstretched arm after a header from Darwin Nunez.
On-field referee Craig Pawson waved away Liverpool’s appeals for a penalty but eventually pointed to the spot after an intervention from VAR.
Mohamed Salah converted the penalty to put the Reds 2-1 up before Nunez scored his first goal for the club to wrap up the win.
“It’s the rules,” Agbonlahor told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“There’s nothing that Dias had to do, he didn’t even have to jump. All Nunez was doing was heading it back, there was no reason to jump with your arms in the air.
“These defenders and midfielders back there need to learn the hard way sometimes. Now, you’ve got to keep your arms down. When you’re going up for a header you’ve got to keep your arms down, as hard as it might be.
“You’d rather let the striker head it when the keeper has a chance of making a save than give a penalty away.
“Defenders have got to be sensible with how they are defending.”
Man City have now lost the last two Community Shield games.
They last won the competition in 2019 when they beat Liverpool on penalties at Wembley.
In other news, an ex-Premier League referee has revealed Mike Dean should be sacked after a Man City development.