Gary Lineker slams ‘most ridiculous penalty decision’ against England as Rico Lewis is controversially penalised for foul against North Macedonia… while Jamie Carragher describes the incident as ‘bizarre’

• Rico Lewis was penalised after giving away a penalty against North Macedonia
• The Manchester City youngster made his senior England debut in the 1-1 draw
• Trent and Bellingham can play together but can’t get in each other’s way – IAKO

Gary Lineker described North Macedonia’s penalty against England on Monday that was awarded against Rico Lewis as the ‘most ridiculous penalty decision.’

Lewis – making his senior Three Lions debut – starred for Gareth Southgate’s side but was deemed to have been at fault by VAR and match referee Filip Glova who pointed to the spot after watching the replays.

The incident occurred in the 38th-minute when Lewis attempted to win an aerial duel and deftly caught Bojan Miovski with a trailing arm as he jumped.

Miovski made the most of the incident as he rolled around on the poorly conditioned pitch and a VAR check decided a spot-kick should be awarded after initially being waved away by the onfield official.

Lineker slammed the penalty decision that ended up having barely any significance as England topped their qualifying group, posting online: ‘It’s not important in the slightest, but that’s the most ridiculous penalty decision.’

Rico Lewis was controversially penalised for giving away a penalty against North Macedonia

Gary Lineker described the spot-kick against Lewis as the ‘most ridiculous penalty decision’

Lewis attempted to win an aerial duel and deftly caught Bojan Miovski with a trailing arm as he jumped

Lewis was fortunately able to recover from the incident and produced an emphatic performance for the national team that later saw him lauded by his team-mates and others.

The 18-year-old who turns 19 on Tuesday was awarded England’s man of the match award and has been praised for giving Gareth Southgate another option to consider when choosing his final Euros squad.

Former England captain and Chelsea legend John Terry joined Lineker in criticising the penalty decision, stating: ‘Oh my word… How is that a penalty?’

The spot-kick gave the hosts an early lead in the match before a second half own goal pulled England level at the Tose Proeski Arena in Skopje.

There would be no late winning goal as the match ended in a draw and Jamie Carragher gave his verdict on the penalty that he described as ‘bizarre’.

Carragher has been a vocal critic of the use of VAR and how replays are often showed in slow-motion and describing the penalty on X, stated: ‘Bizarre these VAR penalties that get given in Europe’

‘What’s more bizarre is they didn’t give the one against Maguire’ in relation to the defender’s challenge in the box earlier in the game.

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