Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer hit out at Ben White for his behaviour during Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Gunners ended the weekend at the Premier League summit with just seven games remaining after they eased past Brighton a day before Liverpool were held to a draw at Manchester United.
Mikel Arteta’s men, who are hoping to claim their first Premier League title in two decades, are top of the table, ahead of Liverpool on goal difference and a point better off than reigning champions Manchester City.
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However, one moment involving White caught the attention of the Rest is Football podcast during Arsenal's win over the Seagulls.
The defender, who has recently been in the headlines for snubbing an England call-up, was the subject of criticism after clashing with the Seagulls’ Pervis Estupinan.
White barged into the Ecuadorian, who responded by nudging the Arsenal star. White subsequently fell to the floor clutching his throat in a seemingly cynical attempt to get his counterpart sent off.
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And Lineker and Shearer were quick to label White’s reaction “very embarrassing”.
Speaking on the Rest Is Football podcast, Match of the Day host Lineker asked: “Should we mention the Ben White incident?”
This prompted ex-Newcastle and England striker Shearer to respond: “Yes we should! What a f*****g joke.”
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Lineker added: “What I don’t understand, I don’t like and never have liked play-acting. I don’t get it or understand why players do it, but especially now when you’ve got so many cameras at the ground and you’ve got VAR anyway that will look back at incidents.
“Do you not think to yourself, that’s a bit embarrassing doing that? And Ben White is not the only one by the way, lots of players do it, but I just don’t know why you’d bring that on yourself. You just look at prat.”
Shearer added: “Absolutely, it was embarrassing, very embarrassing.”
Topics: Arsenal, Premier League, Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, Ben White, Mikel Arteta, VAR