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Pundit defends Illan Meslier take despite strong reaction from Leeds supporters

IMAGO / Pro Sports Images

TalkSPORT’s Jeff Stelling is doubling down on his stance regarding Illan Meslier amid his costly error resulting in the Whites dropping three points against Sunderland last Friday and settling for one.

Chris Rigg gave Sunderland an early lead with a ninth-minute goal, making it 1-0. Leeds quickly responded, leveling the score at 1-1 with Joël Piroe’s 22nd-minute strike.

The teams went into halftime tied, and early in the second half, Junior Firpo put Leeds ahead with a 56th-minute goal. It looked like Leeds would win, but stoppage time brought a dramatic twist.

Meslier’s late error handed Sunderland the equalizer. Alan Browne’s cross deflected off Firpo, and as Meslier reached for the ball, it slipped through his fingers and into the net, securing Sunderland a crucial point.

Jeff Stelling doubles down on Illan Meslier take

After the final whistle, cameras caught the Frenchman laughing, which only worsened the situation. Amid the criticism aimed at the goalkeeper, Jeff Stelling tweeted on Friday, pointing out that his teammates, especially Firpo, should have done more to console him after the mistake.

“Would have been nice to see some Leeds players console Meslier a little more – notably Junior Firpo!!” Stelling wrote on X. “A terrible, terrible mistake but nobody feeling worse than the keeper… By the way to all those saying he is smirking /laughing afterwards, he is smiling in embarrassment. What else is he meant to do? Cry?”

On Monday, Stelling mentioned that he faced backlash from Leeds fans over his tweet but stood by his criticism.

“It’s fair to say that Leeds United fans – they absolutely battered me for trying to defend the goalkeeper,” Stelling said on talkSPORT (h/t Leeds Live). “What I felt was that afterwards – and Leeds fans are going to tell me this is not the case – Junior Firpo had scored, he went straight down the tunnel at the end, no attempt to console the goalkeeper.

“I’m going to get battered for this again now, but that’s what he needs. And when he next plays for Leeds, I hope every single Leeds United fan gets behind him.”

Leeds will come out of the break to host promotional rival Sheffield United on October 18 at Elland Road.

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