Kasper Schmeichel has continued to question the legality of Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty technique in a heated exchange on the Premier League ’s 'captains call'".
Schmeichel has saved six penalties during the course of his Premier League career and while he got nowhere near this particular bullet, the Leicester captain complained on the day to officials regarding Lacazette’s run-up as the strike effectively sealed all three points for Arsenal in a 2-0 victory.
Requesting assistance from Anthony Taylor, Schmeichel argued that the striker had come to a stop during the run-up and that this is not permitted but these complaints were rejected by the match official and VAR.
According to the Daily Mail, the Dane flagged his issues with stuttering run-ups at a recent captains call involving refereeing body PGMOL.
Schmeichel was told by PGMOL select group director Adam Gale-Watts that a player can feign during the run-up but not when it is completed, insisting Lacazette's actions were within the laws.
The decision was backed up by former top-flight official Mark Halsey who suggested that Schmeichel simply did not know the laws of the game.
The arbiter told CaughtOffside : “Feigning in the run-up is permitted. Once you get to the ball, you can’t feign.
"Feigning once the kicker has completed the run-up, is not permitted, and would be a yellow card. So the Lacazette penalty was correct, by the laws of the game. I remember watching the penalty and Schmeichel was way off his line anyway. Even if there was feigning, he was off his line as well.”
Stalling in the run-up has been considered part of the penalty taker’s armoury – though not one that has always been appreciated or totally successful.
Chelsea's Jorginho and Manchester United ace Bruno Fernandes have even attempted to add additional elements to the task but Schmeichel appears determined to have made his point to the Premier League after this latest incident at the Emirates.
