Ranieri furious with Kamara for taking penalty against orders

Match Report

Dec 30, 2018 09:59 am

EPL
Fulham	Huddersfield
1	0
(Aleksandar Mitrovic 90+1)

Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri said he wanted to “kill” his striker Aboubakar Kamara, whom he accused of disrespecting the club by insisting on taking a penalty against the Italian’s orders in their 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town.

The bizarre incident, made worse by Kamara’s subsequent miss from the spot, happened in the 82nd minute of the English Premier League game with the score goalless at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

As soon as the penalty was awarded, Frenchman Kamara wrestled the ball from Fulham’s top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic and ignored all entreaties from his teammates to give the ball back to the Serb.

The 23-year-old Kamara’s subsequent effort was then saved by Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl.

Although Mitrovic scored a late winner that moved Fulham up one place to 18th, Ranieri afterwards expressed his anger at Kamara, who had netted a penalty against Manchester United earlier this season.

“I said to Aboubakar Kamara to leave the ball to Aleksandar Mitrovic, he is the man who (takes) the penalties,” said the Italian coach.

‘It is unbelievable, he did not respect me, the club, the team and crowd. I spoke with him, it is not right.

“I wanted to kill him, that is normal when one man takes a ball, only because he scored the last penalty (against Manchester United). It should be Mitrovic, that is it.”

Mitrovic adopted a more conciliatory tone, saying: “For the penalty, we had a small argument and I think it is my job for penalties. He (Kamara) did not think like this but I respect that. I have done the same in the past. I don’t have a problem with this, he missed and that is part of football.”

Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke was involved in a similar incident in an EPL game last December, when he wrestled the ball from regular penalty-taker Luka Milivojevic but also missed from the spot in the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth.

Belgian striker Benteke subsequently issued an apology to his teammates for his actions.
– REUTERS