Eni Aluko and Ian Wright CLAP back at Twitter trolls following minor punditry error

Eni Aluko hits back at internet trolls who mocked her for a minor mistake during her ITV World Cup analysis last night.

Ex-England international Aluko is currently in Qatar, appearing on ITV as a professional football pundit.

Last night, she was on the panel alongside Graeme Souness and Roy Keane, all of whom were discussing the Brazil vs South Korea Round of 16 match. 

While analysing the game, Aluko made a very minor mistake with her maths.

Talking about Richarlison’s prolific goal-scoring efforts she said, “He’s the top scorer for Brazil over the last two years. He’s got a great record, 19 in 40 appearances, you do the math on that – that’s one goal a game, pretty much.”

What Aluko meant was that looking at Richarlison’s statistics, he was scoring one goal every other game. This was a simple slip of the tongue.

However, viewers and social media users were quick to jump on Aluko’s incorrect remark.

Eni Aluko and Ian Wright clap back at twitter trolls following ITV World Cup coverage.
Eni Aluko. Image credit: Getty images/Visionhaus

One Twitter user wrote, “Why are ex-female players commenting on the men’s game? It’s at nowhere near the same level. A bit like having an ex-conference south player on giving his tuppence worth…”

Another Twitter user blasted her saying, “and she gets paid for this!!” 

What did Aluko say to the Twitter trolls?

Aluko herself took to Twitter this morning to defend herself. Quote retweeting a clip from ITV Football, the pundit wrote, “Got myself a First class law degree, 102 caps & a Doctorate but maths wasn’t always my forte,”

“Nearly 1 in 2 games is the math on Richarlison,” she continued. “But some of you weirdo Twitterati knew that already. Might also learn from the rest of the analysis conveniently ignored.”

The comment section on Aluko’s Tweet has since been flooded with support. 

Fellow World Cup pundit Seema Jaswal wrote, “ [Aluko] is an absolute joy to work with, knowledgeable, professional and makes my job so much easier.”

Sky Sports news reporter Jamie Weir also wrote, “Any normal person knew exactly what you meant, Eni. No need to explain yourself to others, none of whom have experienced or understand live television.”

Ian Wright defends Eni Aluko

Elsewhere, another World Cup pundit, Ian Wright has also clapped back at trolls and defended Aluko’s slip of the tongue. 

Taking to Twitter, Wright wrote, “I’ve made countless mistakes live on air. The replies to this are horrible. You man are so pressed by women in football that you take pure pleasure in this. Grow up.”

At the time of writing, Wright’s tweet has over 3000 Retweets and 40K likes.

Featured image credit: Getty Images/Naomi Baker