SKY SPORTS’ commentary cut out for Arsenal’s opening goal at Fulham – prompting plenty of Gary Lineker jokes.
The team of Bill Leslie and Alan Smith on the gantry at Craven Cottage lost their feed just after the 20-minute mark.
That forced David Jones to step in as an emergency commentator from the studio, joking Jamie Redknapp and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink had to put their sandwiches down.
And the first thing Jones had to do was call Gabriel’s header to break the deadlock, turning in Leandro Trossard’s inswinging corner.
It meant the goal was greeted with an anti-climatic “oh and now Arsenal are in front” as an apology message flashed up on the screen.
The 21st-minute header came just moments after Antonee Robinson’s own goal was chalked off by VAR because Gabriel Martinelli was offside in the build-up.
Jones added: “Well, it didn’t take long, did it? They had the scare, Fulham.
“Gabriel has won the header from the corner to score his third Premier League goal of the season and the Arsenal fans in front of us celebrate again.”
At half-time, Jones joked the “stand-in commentator couldn’t see much from 120 yards away”.
Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for viewers at home to joke the Sky commentators were joining the boycott to stand with the Lineker following his BBC suspension.
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One said: “Even the Sky commentators have gone on strike in solidarity with Gary Lineker.”
Another wrote: “Sky Sports just doing their silent tribute to Gary Lineker in the Fulham v Arsenal game.”
A third added: “Sky Sports surely mocking the BBC by cutting out the commentary as Gabriel scores for Arsenal.”
And a final user commented: “Respect to the Sky Sports commentators for showing solidarity with Gary Lineker, pure class.”
Five minutes later, it was 2-0 when Trossard crossed for Martinelli to head in and put the Gunners in total control.
And skipper Martin Odegaard made it three before the break when he was allowed to control, set himself and blast past Bernd Leno.
BUNGLING BBC
The BBC chaos continued following the “farcical” Match of the Day and scrapping of Football Focus, Final Score and 5 Live Sport on Sunday during the WSL coverage.
The top-of-the-table clash between Chelsea and Manchester United had to use the world feed commentary from Nigel Adderley, with no BBC pundits, presenters or commentators prepared to cover the game.
However, just 19 SECONDS into the match at Kingsmeadow, the sound cut out – leaving TV viewers only able to hear the stadium noise – just like on Match of the Day last night.
It was just a brief technical blip though, and Adderley’s dulcet tones returned 22 seconds later.
Lineker was slapped with the punishment for his tweets relating to the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill before the likes of Ian Wright and Alan Shearer chose to stand with their pal.
That led to a reduced-length, 20-minute MOTD that was watched by 2.58million people last night – up 500,000 on the previous week – no doubt because curious fans were simply intrigued by how the show would look.
Later tonight, Match of the Day 2 – usually presented by Mark Chapman who refused to present 5 Live Sport – will have no host or pundits in a similar reduced format.
As revealed by The Sun, BBC boss Tim Davie is in a personal stalemate with Lineker as neither man prepares to back down in the impartiality row.
BBC bosses have demanded Lineker agree to stop posting political messages online after he criticised the Government’s small boats policies.
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But a source close to the £1.35m-a-year England legend insisted he would carry on, despite the reaction to his comparison between Tory immigration rhetoric and Nazi Germany.
BBC director-general Tim Davie admitted it had been a “difficult day” — but said of quitting: “My job is to serve licence fee-payers and I look forward to resolving this situation.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
