During Saturday night’s 2-1 victory against Como, Dele Alli’s old Tottenham teammate Kyle Walker is receiving applause after the right-back attempted to stop referee Matteo Marchetti from dismissing the midfield player. The 28-year-old Alli’s first outing in more than two years ended disastrously as he was sent off with a straight red card in stoppage time.
After coming off the bench for Cesc Fabregas’ team, the former England wonderkid, who was predicted to be fantastic in 2016, only lasted nine minutes until VAR intervened due to his needlessly dangerous challenge on the back of Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s leg. It was suggested that Marchetti reconsider his decision to upgrade Alli’s card from yellow to red after first showing him a yellow card on a pitchside monitor.
Alli was participating in a competitive setting for the first time after disclosing his experiences of sexual abuse in an honest interview with Gary Neville on July 13, 2023. During that same emotional sit-down, he disclosed that he had resorted to using sleeping pills and alcohol to cope with his mental health issues. Everyone had thought that a transfer to Como in 2025 would give him a fresh start after his time in recovery.
Kyle Walker Lauded For Trying To Stop Dele Alli Being Sent Off
He was seen desperately pleading with the referee during stoppage time
Kyle Walker, an ex-Tottenham teammate who joined Milan from Manchester City in January, begged the officials to take some responsibility as the Englishman left for an early shower. However, his pleas for Alli to avoid a red card during stoppage time were dismissed. View the entire incident below:
Dele Alli was sent off after receiving a red card just nine minutes into his first professional appearance in two years.
Even Kyle Walker was pleading with the ref to keep the initial yellow and to not change it to a red 💔 pic.twitter.com/B6hWGYeHks
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 15, 2025
Kyle Walker is a real one pic.twitter.com/cYsIsz28D0
— ⚪️ (@owenthfc__) March 15, 2025
Throughout their time together at Tottenham and for England, Alli and Walker shared the pitch 96 times. But while Walker’s career took off and he ended up winning everything with Manchester City, his former teammate’s path took a considerably more tumultuous turn, to the point where Alli acknowledged he briefly thought about retiring at the age of just 24.
Alli’s career took a turn for the worst after Mauricio Pochettino left Spurs, as stints at Everton and Besiktas were unable to bring him back to the level of play that had made him a teenage phenomenon. Although it’s unclear where his time in Italy will take him, it’s reasonable to say that his comeback hasn’t gone as planned thus far.
