Tonight's shortened Match of the Day has provoked mixed reaction on social media after highlights of today's Premier League matches were shown without any commentary.
The program was proceeded by a brief apology from the BBC continuity reader before a title screen was showed that read 'Premier League highlights'. The traditional Match of the Day theme tune was absent and the program went straight into showing the goals from the today's matches. The duration of the show was only 20 minutes.
The matches were also shown without any commentary as the BBC commentators had refused to work following Gary Lineker's suspension from the program. According to The Athletic the BBC does not have right's to the Premier League world feed commentary and so games were shown with the natural stadium noises instead.
READ MORE: Match of the Day' review: Gary Lineker revolt makes for highlights farce and BBC apology
Twitter users took to the platform to express their feelings towards the strange program.
One user criticised the highlights program by saying, "How bad is MOTD tonight @BBCSport sort it out embarrassing. Won’t be tuning in again if it stays as bad!!
Another user said, "Don’t care what anyone says, MOTD without commentators and pundits is nothing. Would prefer to just load up the 3-minute highlights on YouTube. Whether I agree with them or not, when I watch MOTD it’s to hear what they have to say about the games."
But not everybody shared the same view. Some thought tonight's show was an improvement, "Just watched MOTD - it was great. No inane chat - just football".
Another Twitter praised the shortened show by saying, "So happy the pundits have gone from MOTD. Always dragged on for me. All the football without the waffle! #MatchOfTheDay.
Whatever happens in the future, tonight's heavily altered version of Match of the Day will live long in the memory.
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