‘Tripgate’ Fails To Impact On Severnside Derby

Cardiff City and Bristol City parted on amicable terms after a relatively even game in which the Bluebirds took the lead only to see another late equaliser level the game.

However, it was an incident immediately after Chopra’s goal that threatened to over-shadow the game as BCFC manager Gary Johnson appeared to trip Chopra deliberately as he celebrated.

Chopra had already clashed with a Bristol City substitute, warming up and appearing to hold the ball away from Peter Whittingham. After his excellent curling effort, Chopra ran down the line only to stumble and react angrily towards the BCFC bench, and Johnson in particular.

To see the trip, click here. It does look pretty bad !!!

However, everything seemed to be rosy after the game with Gary Johnson and Jones’ usual post-match embrace. Johnson said after the game:

“Chops scored his goal and was happy, but he needs to celebrate on the pitch and not our technical area – that`s my ground.”

“I stood my ground and the player went down. It might have been a trip, but I won`t admit it!”

“I have apologised to Chops and Dave Jones. They are fine with it. Chops scored an excellent goal and I have chatted to him and congratulated him on that.”

Dave Jones laughed off the incident and joked that perhaps Johnson wouldn’t have tripped the scorer if it had been Jay Bothroyd, a good 6 inches taller than the dimunutive Chopra.