Harry Maguire has expressed despair at the number of “soft” and “ridiculous” penalties being awarded in top-level football and called on the Premier League to lead the way in raising the threshold.
The England centre-half was on the right end of a questionable decision on Monday night when he was not penalised for a first-half barge on the North Macedonia forward, Eljif Elmas, inside the area. But England’s relief would turn to anger when the hosts in Skopje were awarded a hugely debatable penalty after Rico Lewis was pulled up for a foul on Bojan Miovski. Lewis, on his senior international debut, won a clearing header but, in the act of doing so, he put his hand in Miovski’s face – which was enough for the VAR to recommend the penalty.
