Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher dissects the flashpoints from the weekend’s soccer.
Newcastle 4-3 West Ham
Incident: A penalty awarded after simply two minutes at St James’ Park as Vladimir Coufal introduced down Anthony Gordon. One – was it a foul? And two – why was Gordon not offside?
Verdict: Right resolution.
Dermot says: “I feel it is a foul. The ref spots the foul after which VAR has a glance. Gordon is in an offside place however it all depends upon Konstantinos Mavropanos enjoying the ball along with his proper foot intentionally and due to this fact underneath this steering you may’t give offside and Gordon can play.
Incident: Controversy surrounding West Ham’s second objective. Mohammed Kudus scored whereas Fabian Schar was down holding his face. Ought to Rob Jones have allowed the free-kick to be taken shortly?
Verdict: Play ought to have been stopped.
Dermot says: “I think the best solution here was the minute they take the free-kick to blow your whistle and say, Schar has to be assessed. Kill it off quickly.”
Incident: Newcastle bought a second penalty, Kalvin Phillips bringing down Gordon. Jones gave it after going to the monitor. Was Phillips unlucky?
Verdict: Proper resolution.
Dermot says: “He’s unfortunate but he does kick him and it’s a foul. Gordon is clever and gets in front of him. The referee has to give a penalty.”
Incident: Dan Burn knocked over Kudus as he tried to interrupt into the Newcastle field and David Moyes needed a pink card. However nothing was given.
Verdict: Proper resolution.
Dermot says: “When you’re side-to-side, shoulder-to-shoulder fair enough. If a player gets in front you can’t do that [shove] but side-by-side that’s fine.”
Bournemouth 2-1 Everton
Incident: Bournemouth’s Tyler Adams introduced down Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin within the field however no penalty was given.
Verdict: The referee noticed the incident incorrectly – VAR ought to have stepped in
Dermot says: “If the referee gives a penalty there can’t be too many complaints. All I think is the referee thinks Calvert-Lewin trips himself but he does get kicked first. He would feed that back to the VAR. Is there enough contact? The thresholds… the vagary of VAR.”
Stephen Warnock says: “This is clearly a foul and they’ve obviously got it wrong. That’s a poor decision for me.”
Sue Smith says: “VAR need to say you need to have another look at that. Calvert-Lewin isn’t going to go down if he’s not fouled because he has a clear shot at goal.”
Chelsea 2-2 Burnley
Incident: Burnley went right down to 10 when Lorenz Assignon introduced down Mykhailo Mudryk. Darren England awarded a penalty and gave Assignon a second yellow.
Verdict: Incorrect resolution. No penalty, no yellow card.
Dermot says: “I just cannot see how it’s a penalty. I talk about referees and how tough it is but I don’t know what’s made him think that’s a penalty. It’s not a penalty. 100 per cent. He then gives him a yellow card – I’m not sure what that’s for. It can’t be for denying a goalscoring opportunity because Mudryk is not in possession of the ball. You give a penalty that is wrong. A yellow card that’s wrong, which becomes a red card, so the player is sent off and he’s going to serve a one-match ban because there’s no appeal. It starts to ramp up because the manager is frustrated and upset by this and he gets a red card.”
Warnock says: “That’s one of the worst decisions of the season. It’s so easy. Where’s the strength of the VAR to step up and say ‘you got that wrong’.”
Rangers 3-1 Hibernian
Incident: Within the Scottish Premiership a penalty to Rangers. Nectarios Triantis’ arm catches John Souttar and the referee factors to the spot after the VAR test. Proper name from the officers?
Verdict: Right resolution
Dermot says: “When I saw this I thought, really, really harsh. When it goes to the replay for VAR it’s absolutely right. Also a yellow card because a flailing arm catches him in the face. Credit to the VAR.”
Incident: The penalty was saved and Scott Wright’s follow-up was disallowed for encroachment. Proper resolution right here?
Verdict: Right resolution
Dermot says: “If he had size-six boots rather than size eight he wouldn’t have encroached but it’s all about impact. Because he scores. It’s zero tolerance when you have VAR and he’s stepped over the line.”
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