- Man Utd’s win over Brighton was overshadowed by an incident involving Lukaku
- Belgian international appeared to twice kick out at Gaetan Bong
- However, an FA panel have ruled that he shouldn’t face retrospective punishment
- Watch the incident: Romelu Lukaku video clearly shows Man United striker violently kicking Brighton’s Gaetan Bong
Man Utd secured a 1-0 win over Brighton at Old Trafford at the weekend, but Romelu Lukaku’s name has dominated headlines in the aftermath.
That’s because the Belgian international was caught on replays seemingly kicking out at Gaetan Bong twice in the build-up to the winning goal, missing with his first attempt before making contact with the second into the Brighton defender’s stomach area and below.
While referee Neil Swarbrick missed it at the time, it was left in the hands of an FA panel to decide whether or not Lukaku should face retrospective punishment, and the verdict was that he shouldn’t.
It’s difficult to understand how the verdict was reached though in truth, with BBC Sport explaining that the incident was handed over to three former Premier League officials who had to unanimously agree that it was a ‘sending off offence’.
However, they somehow decided that it wasn’t or weren’t entirely in agreement, and so Lukaku will look ahead to a busy week of football, starting with the visit to Vicarage Road to take on Watford on Tuesday night.
As seen in this video, it would arguably appear as though there’s sufficient evidence of violent conduct which would have resulted in a three-match ban, but ultimately no further action will be taken and Lukaku will be available for key games for Jose Mourinho’s side.
Those also include games against rivals Arsenal and Manchester City, and so the Red Devils will undoubtedly be breathing a huge sigh of relief that their talismanic forward has escaped a ban and will be available for selection.
Former Premier League referee Graham Poll was in no doubt about the incident, labelling it as an “assault” from Lukaku in his piece for the Daily Mail. As a result, it makes it even more difficult to understand how the panel haven’t reached the same conclusion.