Ben White 's play-acting in Arsenal's victory over Brighton on Saturday has drawn criticism from Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker.
White and his Gunners team-mates were comfortable at the Amex Stadium, taking a half-time lead through Bukayo Saka's penalty and extending their advantage when Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard found the net. It was a memorable return to the south coast for Trossard, who celebrated against his former club, but there was a sourer moment from his fellow ex-Seagulls star White.
Early in the second half, White clashed with Brighton's Pervis Estupinan and went to ground holding his throat after minimal contact. A number of fans took aim at the defender for what they considered simulation, and it didn't go unnoticed by Lineker or Shearer either.
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Lineker asked whether it was worth addressing the incident while discussing the game. "Yes we should!" Shearer replied. "What a f*****g joke."
White's actions had no bearing on the eventual result, with Arsenal a goal to the good at the time and going on to add to their lead. However, they still left Lineker baffled.
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"What I don’t understand, I don’t like and never have liked play-acting," the Match of the Day host continued. "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 a prat."
Should Ben White face consequences for the incident? Have your say in the comments section
White has been gearing up for Arsenal's Champions League game against Bayern Munich (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)White is expected to be part of the Arsenal XI on Tuesday as Mikel Arteta's team face Bayern Munich in the Champions League. The Gunners needed penalties to see off Porto in the round of 16, and Arteta has suggested his side will need some magic to overcome 2020 winners Bayern.
"You want to overcome those hurdles in this competition," the Arsenal manager said. "You are going to need magic moments. At a certain stage, at a certain moment, in the competition, in the tie, something exceptional has to happen.
“It has to go your way, you have to generate that momentum and in order for that to happen, you have to make it happen otherwise it’s not going to come. You have to provoke that and we will try to make that happen.
“With the atmosphere we have in our stadium, the energy they create and the positivity we had against Porto in the last round, you could see and sense it that it’s an extra thing you have that the opponent doesn’t have and we have to feel that from the very first whistle.”
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