Gary Lineker shares what Alan Shearer was texting him about Liverpool vs Newcastle on Monday

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Gary Lineker has shared what Alan Shearer was saying about Liverpool’s win over Newcastle on Monday.

Despite the Reds dominance at Anfield, post-match talk was focused on the incident surrounding Liverpool’s fourth goal. Having rounded Martin Dubravka and with the goal gaping, Diogo Jota hit the deck under minimal contact. Penalty given.

Ian Wright was one of those incensed at what he viewed as dive from Jota, and Shearer took to X to vent his frustration, too. Now, speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker, Shearer and Micah Richards have all had their say.

“On our group chat you were not particularly happy with the second penalty,” Lineker said to Shearer. “The first one I thought was a penalty definitely, but the second one. I mean if there is contact it’s minimal. I wonder whether he is going round the corner, and you’re thinking just stay on your feet and knock it in, but I think internally in his mind he has had a bit of a panic that he’s knocked it too far and he’s just gone I better go down as I felt something. I was shocked they didn’t turn that over, shocked.”

“We need to put some context into this because you two are both strikers, you are both running at that pace,” Richards chipped in. “I thought if he is running at that pace it only takes a little bit of a touch to send you over. That was my first thought. But then obviously he exaggerates the dive afterwards. So can you explain to me what happened from a striker’s point of view.”

“Yeah, he dived! It’s pretty simple,” announced Shearer. “I would agree with you on that one!” Lineker retorted.

Jota gets the third degree

It does seem strange that having put up such an impressive attacking performance, this is the thing being talked about following Monday’s game.

From our point of view, it isn’t really a difficult one either. Jota is quite clearly clipped by Dubravka as he rounds him. With an open net at his mercy, there’s no need for him to go down.

Here, the logical explanation is that the 27-year-old was simply unable to stay on his feet.

The fall did look dramatic, that we will concede. But it was a penalty. That there needs to be such hand-wringing over it is bizarre.

Lineker, Shearer and indeed Wright were all forwards – and very good ones at that – in their own time.

In the same circumstances, we’d suggest that all three would have acted in exactly the same way as Jota.

The one frustration for Newcastle is perhaps that they were still in the game with five minutes left at 3-2. But the way Liverpool were playing, they could quite easily have scored again anyway.

Shearer has often been magnanimous where the Reds are concerned. He’s praised Anfield to the heavens in the past and has today also backed Liverpool to go ‘all the way’ in the Premier League this season. But he’s letting his Newcastle allegiances cloud his judgement here. As for Lineker, he’s got no excuse.