Wolverhampton Wanderers left-back Marcal was subject to criticism from Martin Keown after his role in the team’s loss yesterday.
The Brazilian defender gave away the penalty for Brentford’s opening goal. Ivan Toney dispatched it, leading to a 2-0 victory for the visitors.
After the opening goal, Wolves struggled to get back into the game. They were fortunate that Brentford had two goals disallowed by VAR.
Speaking about Marcal’s shirt-pulling, Martin Keown said on Match of the Day on BBC One (11:20pm, September 18, 2021): “Unbelievable. It is a high tackle in rugby let alone football.”
The former Arsenal player then questioned why Marcal was marking Toney given the height-difference.
Keown said: “Why is Marcal marking Toney? I would not have had him [Marcal] marking him [Toney], that led to the goal.”
Marcal not the only defender criticised on the show
In addition to Marcal, Wolves defender Maximilian Kilman was subject to criticism for his role in Brentford’s second goal.
Attempting to control the ball whilst sliding, Kilman lost control of it, allowed Toney to break away and set up Bryan Mbeumo for Brentford’s second.
Included in his analysis on the BBC One show, Keown praised Toney for forcing the error of out Kilman.
The Arsenal legend added: “If you look at his [Toney] pace, and power and intelligence. He knows what he’s good at, the defender should do better here.”
It was a rare error from Kilman who has had an exceptional start to the season.
Under Bruno Lage, the former futsal defender appears to have found a new lease of life. Fans were very vocal in their praise for him after Wolves’ narrow loss to Leicester City last month.