Under Fire Pundit Responds to Criticism Over Laughing Off Horror Tackle on Kevin De Bruyne

Former Liverpool and Manchester United striker Michael Owen has responded to recent criticism after he was seen laughing at Jason Puncheon's horror tackle on Kevin De Bruyne.

The incident happened on New Year's Eve when Crystal Palace hosted Manchester City at Selhurst Park, with a nasty challenge from Puncheon in the last moments of the game, which appeared to seriously hurt De Bruyne, forcing the Citizens to finish the game with 10 men.

Owen's light-hearted way of dealing with the incident didn't go down too well with the Manchester City supporters and the 38-year-old came out to defend his actions in a social media post during City's recent 3-1 victory over Watford.

"3 things I was ridiculed for after my punditry on Sunday," Owen wrote on Twitter, defending his recent actions. 

"1. Jesus has a medial knee ligament injury - proved correct. 2. A giggle at Puncheon’s foul as I knew it wasn’t the type to cause serious injury - De Bruyne started tonight. 3. Zaha wasn’t a pen - not even an argument."

Although the Premier League legend, who won the Ballon d'Or in 2001, was right about the severity of De Bruyne's injury, Crystal Palace's Puncheon didn't come off as lightly.

The former Southampton playmaker will miss the rest of the season after damaging his cruciate ligament, with Eagles teammate Scott Dann also ruled out for the rest of the campaign with the same injury.

Manchester City now get a break from Premier League as their attentions turn to domestic cup competitions. Pep Guardiola's side will host Burnley in the 3rd round of the FA Cup on Saturday before Bristol City travel to the Etihad for the first-leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final clash.