Exclusive: Leicester denied penalty as Estupinan foul unpunished in Brighton draw
Keith Hackett has given his thoughts on appeals for a penalty from Leicester City during their draw with Brighton.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that Pervis Estupinan was lucky not to be penalised for a challenge on Kasey McAteer inside his own area.
Ruud van Nistelrooy‘s side look destined for an immediate return to the Championship this season, following a dismal run without scoring or picking up a point.
That run did at least end on Saturday (12 April), when Leicester played out an eventful 2-2 draw with Brighton.
However, it appears the Foxes may have been unfortunate not to get even more from that match, amid an early penalty appal.
Pervis Estupinan clashes with Kasey McAteer
With the score locked at 0-0, Leicester felt they should have had a penalty when McAteer picked up the ball from the right, and drove into the Brighton area.
The winger then went down after a challenge from Estupinan, who appeared to catch his opponent in the face with his hand.
Ultimately no penalty was given to the visitors, who then saw Brighton take the lead when Joao Pedro scored from the spot after a Conor Coady handball.
| Leicester last five games | Result |
| Chelsea (A) | Lost 1-0 |
| Man United (H) | Lost 3-0 |
| Man City (A) | Lost 2-0 |
| Newcastle (H) | Lost 3-0 |
| Brighton (A) | Drew 2-2 |
After Stephy Mavididi equalised for the visitors, a second penalty from Pedro put the Seagulls back in front, before Caleb Okoli headed a late eqauliser to earn a long-awaited point for Leicester.
Now, Hackett believes that Van Nistelrooy’s side were unfortunate not to have had a penalty of their own for that challenge by Estupinan.
‘Leicester City unlucky over early penalty call vs Brighton’ – Keith Hackett
After being asked by Football Insider whether he thought a penalty could have been given to Leicester for that incident, the former referee said:
“For me I think that’s a careless challenge by the defender who understands what he’s doing. His aim is to stop forward.
“Rather than making a fair challenge with his feet, he decides to do it with his body and his hands and arms leading and for me that’s a penalty kick.
“It might seem soft but I think we’ve got to get into this ethos about how a player can challenge for the ball.
“Here what I believe is that an upper-body foul once again has not been penalised in accordance with the laws of the game.”
Leicester will be back in action on Sunday (20 April) when they host league leaders Liverpool, while Brighton will travel to Brentford the day before.