Troy Deeney criticises Leeds defender Ezgjan Alioski for reaction to Nicolas Pepe’s headbutt

Leeds and Arsenal drew 0-0 at Elland Road, with the red card of Pepe proving to be the biggest talking point of the match

Ezgjan Alioski reacts to the headbutt from Nicolas Pepe (Getty)

Troy Deeney has criticised Leeds United’s Ezgjan Alioski for the part he played in Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe’s sending off on Sunday.

Leeds and Arsenal drew 0-0 at Elland Road, with the red card of Pepe proving to be the biggest talking point of the match. Replays showed Pepe headbutt Alioski off the ball, and the Macedonian left-back fell in a heap even though the contact appeared light. 

Pepe was sent off following the intervention of VAR, and afterwards his manager Mikel Arteta described his actions as “unacceptable". But Deeney, the Watford captain, says Alioski deserves criticism for the role he played. 

“We’re probably from a generation that’s a bit different,” said Deeney on TalkSport, discussing the incident with the former Rangers and Scotland striker Ally McCoist. 

“The embarrassment of going down like that is not necessarily the same any more. We’re all saying ‘he did get touched so he’s gone down’ – it’s kind of what we’re doing with the diving now, defending them. Whereas, me personally, if I would have got brushed with a head like that and went down, my mates would be hammering me for the next six months. It would be anything, like a gust of wind – ‘oh, watch Troy, he’s going to fall’.”

Both clubs issued statements to condemn “vile” racial abuse on social media of Pepe and Alioski following the incident during Sunday’s Premier League encounter.