<p>Bernd Leno made headlines for the wrong reasons when he shoved a ball boy during <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/fulham-tv-schedule/">Fulham’s</a> game at <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/bournemouth-tv-schedule-for-us-viewers/">Bournemouth</a>. With 15 minutes left in the 90 at Vitality Stadium, Fulham trailed Bournemouth by two goals. Desperate to restart the game, the Fulham goalkeeper hunted a ball from one of the ball boys behind the Fulham goal. </p>



<p>However, the ball boy did not throw the ball to the German goalkeeper when he asked for it. Instead, the Fulham ball boy cleverly held onto the ball and sauntered over to give Leno the ball. Frustrated with the ball boy, Bernd Leno shoved the Bournemouth ball boy. It was not an aggressive push, but it was enough to send a message.</p>



<p>At the time, Leno was sitting on a yellow card. With intentional contact to someone on the sidelines, officials generally brandish a yellow card at events like this. Yet, Leno escaped the situation without picking up his second booking. The situation did not matter for Fulham, though. The Cottagers went on to lose the game at Dean Court. Additionally, Bournemouth scored a goal to make it a three-goal lead in stoppage time, adding to Fulham’s suffering.</p>



<p>However, the officials removed the ball boys from around the pitch to avoid any further altercations. That ended the multi-ball protocol at the end of the match. That goes against the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/premier-league-tv-schedule/">Premier League’s</a> ambition to <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/efl-premier-league-refs-to-crack-down-on-time-wasting-20230728-WST-446158.html">avoid all timewasting</a> from teams in the lead.</p>



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<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bournemouth ball boy gets pushed by Fulham GK Bernd Leno. Proper Teutonic holiday greeting. <a href="https://t.co/vlhgzXPx4v">pic.twitter.com/vlhgzXPx4v</a></p>— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) <a href="https://twitter.com/MenInBlazers/status/1739692003611267244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 26, 2023</a></blockquote></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<h2>Fulham manager insists there was no wrongdoing</h2>



<p>After the game, Fulham boss Marco Silva claimed Leno was not overly out of line in how he acted on the pitch. The Portuguese boss claimed it was not a shove, but rather a touch. Silva said he was unsure over whether Bournemouth ball boys had instructions to delay the game as they did.</p>



<p>“I don’t know if it was instruction or not, but the ball boys were always delaying,” <a href="https://www.espn.in/football/story/_/id/39187855/fulham-boss-silva-insists-leno-push-bournemouth-ball-boy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Silva said</a>. “Bernd wanted to play quickly and he took the ball from the ball boy. He didn’t push him, it wasn’t strong enough and he apologized.”</p>



<p>Bernd Leno is unlikely to face any kind of sanctioning for the push on the ball boy. As this was not a serious interaction, the match officials dictated all the circumstances.</p>



<h2>Bernd Leno creates latest in-game ball boy story</h2>



<p>The Premier League has a history of interactions with ball boys, both good and bad. For example, Eden Hazard once <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/eden-hazard-ball-boy-millionaire-27820174" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">kicked a ball boy</a> at Swansea when the ball boy did not give the ball to the Belgian when he was at Chelsea. A Tottenham ball boy made a heroic play during a Champions League game when he provided a Spurs player with the ball to quickly restart the game.</p>



<p>Jose Mourinho, the Tottenham manager at the time, even congratulated the ball boy and gave him a tour of the first-team facilities. </p>



<p>In this instance, Bernd Leno apologized to the ball boy at the Bournemouth game for shoving him. He is likely to start between the sticks when the Cottagers host league-leading Arsenal on New Year’s Eve.</p>



<p><em>PHOTO: IMAGO</em>.</p>

Premier League goalkeeper pushes ball boy for timewasting

Bernd Leno made headlines for the wrong reasons when he shoved a ball boy during Fulham's game at Bournemouth.

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<p>When Bernd Leno arrived to Arsenal in the summer of 2018, most fans and pundits around the world thought it was an adequate deal for the north London club.  At £22.5 million, the German goalkeeper cost a significant chunk of change, but didn’t exactly break the bank either.  The signing appeared to be a satisfactory one.  After all, Leno wasn’t exactly a ‘rising star’ or even a household name at the time.  The summer of 2018 was also a time in which six different Premier League teams splashed the cash (at least £13.5 million each) on new goalkeepers, so there were plenty of available players in this position to choose from.</p>
<p>Arsenal snapped up Leno fairly quickly in the summer transfer market that season.  Following the Leno deal, Liverpool spent about £67 million on Alisson and Chelsea bought Kepa Arrizabalaga for a goalkeeping record of £71.6 million.  The season prior to the spending spree on keepers, Manchester City bought Ederson for £35 million and Everton bought Jordan Pickford for £30 million.  Looking back at all of these deals, perhaps Alisson is the only goalkeeper better than Leno at the moment and the German’s transfer fee appears to be an absolute bargain.</p>
<p>Leno didn’t exactly hit the ground running at Arsenal though.  He was a bit shaky at the beginning of his freshman season in north London and even lead the Premier League in errors leading to goals that campaign with five (level with Asmir Begovic).  Nevertheless, Leno slowly improved and saved (pun intended) Arsenal multiple times throughout the difficult 2018/19 season.  The former Bayer Leverkusen player was even one of the nominees for Arsenal’s Player of the Season award.</p>
<p><strong>SEE MORE:</strong> <a href="https:\/\/www.worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/premier-league-tv-schedule">Schedule of Arsenal games on US TV and streaming</a></p>
<p>Statistically speaking, Leno’s numbers this season are impressive.  The goalkeeper ranks second in the Premier League in saves (98) and fourth in saves inside the penalty box (50).  The German’s distribution, particularly playing out of the back, is equally as impressive as his shot-stopping ability.  Leno currently holds a 99.1% passing accuracy on short passes, with a total of 451 short pass attempts (only Brighton’s Mat Ryan has more in the league).</p>
<p>Following Arsenal’s entertaining 3-2 victory over Everton on Sunday, star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang praised his goalkeeper.  “We’re always happy to have [Leno],” claimed the current Premier League Golden Boot co-leader.  “He saved us a couple of times at the right moment and we are really happy to have him and are proud of him.  We know we can count on him, that’s always good for us, and he gives us more energy to push and to give everything.”</p>
<p>The 27-year-old goalkeeper made multiple outstanding saves on the day to preserve the much-needed win for the Gunners.  This is becoming a habit for Leno.  There aren’t many, if any, better highlight reel save compilations on YouTube than the Arsenal keeper’s.  </p>
<p>The Gunners may have struggled with a porous defense in recent years, but Leno is certainly not the issue.  And although he started his Arsenal career a bit slow, the German is currently one of the most important players in the team at the moment and unquestionably in contention for Arsenal’s Player of the Season and the Premier League Team of the Season.</p>
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Arsenal’s Bernd Leno is climbing the European goalkeeping ranks - World Soccer Talk

Arsenal’s Bernd Leno is climbing the European goalkeeping ranks

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