Kris Boyd has slammed Ryan Porteous‘ “horrible” tackle on Ilkay Gundogan that he claims could have broken the German’s leg.
Porteous was sent packing by French ref Clement Turpin a minute before the break with Scotland already 2-0 down in their Euro 2024 opener in Munich. And things got even worse when VAR called for the whistler to re-examine Porteous’ challenge in the area. Kai Havertz had just missed the rebound from a Gundogan header that was saved by Angus Gunn, and in his desperation to stop the Barcelona star smashing home Porteous threw himself feet first in his path.
The Watford man won the ball, but caught Gundogan high with his studs on the follow through with his other foot. The outcome seemed inevitable when Turpin headed over to the monitor and a difficult situation for Steve Clarke became dire when Porteous became the first Scot to be sent off at a major tournament since Craig Burley at France 98. Kai Havertz stepped up and converted the penalty for 3-0 with little fuss.
And Boyd, who was analysing the game for Sky Sports, had absolutely no complaints over the dismissal and visibly grimaced when watching a replay. He said: “The referee was left with no option. It was the correct decision. When you go to close the ball down, fine, fair enough, But when you have two feet off the ground it’s always going to be a red card.
“It’s a horrible tackle. Gundogan’s lucky he’s actually back on his feet. It could have been a leg breaker. As much as Gundogan’s leg is not planted on the deck, he gets away with it.
“I get the fact that he’s eager to go and close the ball down but you can’t do that. He picked up few red cards at Hibs in his career before but he seemed to have left that behind. Listen, it is a red card and the correct decision.