Sky Sports apologise after Souness' Lamela rant

BetOdds Tottenham Hotspur Erik Lamela Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur Premier League Manchester United

The player-turned-pundit took his displeasure at the Spurs star's actions too far on Sunday

Sky Sports were forced to apologise after Graeme Souness used a racial stereotype to criticise Tottenham attacker Erik Lamela.

Against Manchester United on Sunday, the Argentine was involved in a scrap with Anthony Martial and went down dramatically after the Frenchman touched his face.

Martial was ultimately sent off for the incident with Spurs going on to win the match at Old Trafford 6-1.

Souness was left livid by the Lamela's theatrics and ended up making a racist stereotype during a long-winded rant.

"If Martial is going then Lamela has to go," he said on Sky Sports. "He raises his hands, Martial lashes out, it's like a tickle across your chops and he's gone down.

"It is pathetic. It's very Latin. If one goes, both have to go. It's pathetic. Is this what the English game is about? We, the Brits, do it differently. I've played in a Latin country, I've worked in Latin countries, I know how they see the game.

"Lamela will sleep well tonight thinking he has done a great piece of work for his team. That is not us."

Not long after Souness' comments, Sky Sports presenter Dave Jones chimed in with an apology as the broadcaster looked to avoid controversy.

"Now I have to say before we go, earlier in the show we were critical of Erik Lamela's part in Anthony Martial's sending off in the Manchester United Spurs game," Jones said.

"We'd like to apologise for any offence that was caused and the stereotyping of the Latin culture."

While Souness took his criticism of Lamela too far, his actions also left Red Devils manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer quite frustrated.

"The red is no excuse.The boy might be having an operation on his throat though!," Solskjaer said. "It is a bad reaction from Anthony. But if that was one of my players I'd hang him out to dry going down like that. He shouldn't react like that."

Martial's sending off would prove decisive with Spurs going on to score five goals in his absence when scores were locked at 1-1 prior to his dismissal.

The result leaves United sitting 16th in the Premier League with one win and two losses from their first three games.

2020-10-05 10:00:06

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