An explosive A-Leagues moment has gone viral on social media, amassing over 37 million views in the space of just a few days.
The altercation, which took place in the 89th minute of Newcastle Jets’ dramatic 3-2 victory over Melbourne Victory in the Liberty A-League on Saturday, saw Jets goalkeeper Izzy Nino sent off as well as yellow cards for her teammate Mindy Barbieri and Victory’s Emily Gielnik.
Nino will now serve a two-game suspension which could be a big blow for Newcastle, who are still in contention to feature in the Liberty A-League finals heading into the final round.
Watch the clip below.
At the time of writing, the clip of the incident has been viewed 29.5 million times and amassed over 239,000 likes on A-Leagues Instagram alone.
On Facebook, it has been viewed another 8.1 million times, while racking up over 75,000 reactions.
Reacting on Twitter, where prominent UK football commentator Jacqui Oatley shared it to her 163,000 followers, A-Leagues legend Clint Bolton wrote: “@aleaguewomen officials got it about right…technically!
“Izzy ‘El’ Nino is one of my new fave GKS. Should still be room to defend a team mate. Izzy just went a bit high… #KeepersUnion”
Liberty A-League commentator Teo Pellizzeri, who called the moment for Network 10 and Paramount+, added: “This will go viral but definitely shouldn’t overshadow the full 90 which was as entertaining a game as you will see. Check out the highlights!
“The contest matched the circumstances with Newcastle winning to keep their finals hopes alive for one more week. Great fun to call.”
