In the latest edition of Ref Watch, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher runs through the key incidents at the weekend – including controversial calls involving John Stones and William Saliba.
Wolves 1-2 Man City
INCIDENT: John Stones headed in an injury-time winner for Man City at Wolves. It was originally disallowed for offside, with Bernardo Silva judged to be in the line of sight of goalkeeper Jose Sa. However, a VAR review led to a pitchside check and the goal eventually being given.
DERMOT SAYS: “I definitely think so [it’s a goal]. Silva is in an offside position, but he can’t be offside from a corner. He can only be offside as soon as Stones touches it, but he peels away and moves away from Sa.
“When all that [Silva was touching Sa] was happening he was not in an offside position because it’s a corner.
“He can go up and down and do what he wants until Stones heads the ball. It’s only then that his position changes in terms of offside.
“And because he peels off, he’s not offside. And the last picture shows he peels off.”
STEPHEN WARNOCK SAYS: “I think it’s a goal. Bernardo Silva has got every right to make contact with Sa. He’s so clever, so alive to the situation. He nudges him, steps away and ducks down so he’s not involved in the game.
“When I saw it a second time and you saw Sa was looking clearly at the header, it’s a goal. Simple decision.”
SUE SMITH SAYS: “Because of that nudge, Sa hasn’t got time to set for the header.
“It’s impacting Sa’s ability to save the ball. As a goalkeeper, I’d be furious.”
INCIDENT: Earlier this year, Wolves saw a similar goal disallowed when Max Kilman scored a late equaliser against West Ham. That goal was disallowed because goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski’s view was obstructed in a similar fashion.
DERMOT SAYS: “I can explain the Kilman one. When Kilman heads the ball, the Wolves player goes into the goalkeeper.”
INCIDENT: Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said after the Man City game that there is a subconscious bias towards bigger teams after City’s goal was allowed to stand.
DERMOT SAYS: “There wasn’t that unconscious bias in Arsenal and Bournemouth. The decision went Bournemouth’s way and not Arsenal’s. So I’m not sure what unconscious bias means.”
Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea
INCIDENT: Referee John Brooks awarded Liverpool a penalty when Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez upended Curtis Jones but a VAR check led to the decision being overturned, with Sanchez making contact with the ball first.
DERMOT SAYS: “I think it’s a good intervention from VAR. If I see that as VAR, I think the goalkeeper has got the ball first, Jones has gone into him and it’s not a penalty. There’s going to be a collision.”
STEPHEN WARNOCK SAYS: “No penalty. The ball goes through the goalkeeper so you think he’s nicked it past him. I love the fact they went to VAR and then the ref had the final say on the pitch. A great use of VAR.”
SUE SMITH SAYS: “From one angle it looks like a penalty but then you can see Sanchez gets the ball first.”
INCIDENT: Chelsea were not awarded a penalty when Trent Alexander-Arnold trod on Jadon Sancho’s foot. VAR looked at it and said no.
DERMOT SAYS: “I didn’t think it was a foul. Both players are tangled. I’d be very surprised if that was given as a penalty.”
SUE SMITH SAYS: “It’s a penalty. He connects with Sancho’s foot as he plants it.”
STEPHEN WARNOCK SAYS: “It’s a difficult one. Alexander-Arnold’s movement isn’t to kick a ball it’s to take a step. If it had been given it would be difficult to overturn but I don’t think it is a penalty because he takes a natural step to close the player down.”
INCIDENT: Chelsea defender Tosin fouled Diogo Jota as he went through on goal. A yellow card was given. The incident seemed similar to the one which saw Arsenal’s William Saliba sent off the day before…
DERMOT SAYS: “There are a number of things. Jota isn’t in possession of the ball. Direction of the ball, it’s going towards the corner flag. Distance from goal, it’s felt (Levi) Colwill would have the chance to make up the ground. Too many variables.”
Bournemouth 2-0 Arsenal
INCIDENT: Arsenal’s William Saliba was initially shown a yellow card by Rob Jones after bringing down Bournemouth’s Evanilson. After a VAR check, Jarred Gillett sent the ref to the screen and then it was upgraded to a red card.
DERMOT SAYS: “It’s a different situation. The ball is going down the middle. (Ben) White is a long way from Evanilson, who is favourite to get the ball. Raya has backed off, so it’s hard for him to get the ball.”
SUE SMITH SAYS: “Would White have got there? It didn’t look like he would. I thought for both this and the Tosin incident it was the right decision.”
STEPHEN WARNOCK SAYS: “I was listening to the VAR, talking about ball flight, the goalkeeper position, White’s position. They took everything into account.”
INCIDENT: Bournemouth were awarded a second-half penalty. Were there any issues with the award of the penalty and should David Raya have been given a red card rather than a yellow?
DERMOT SAYS: “It’s a penalty for me, he doesn’t get the ball. But it’s not a red card. He has every right to try to get the ball. Yellow card for bringing the player down, not a red because of double jeopardy.”
Southampton 2-3 Leicester
INCIDENT: In Southampton’s defeat to Leicester VAR got involved in the incident which saw Ryan Fraser sent off for pulling back Jamie Vardy. Was it the right decision?
DERMOT SAYS: “A) A penalty for a clear foul.
“B) A red card for stopping a clear goalscoring opportunity.”
INCIDENT: Should Southampton have been awarded a penalty for Jordan Ayew holding Paul Onuachu?
DERMOT SAYS: “I thought it was a penalty. If you hold a player’s shirt for five steps, which he does, that’s sustained. They were of the opinion the goalkeeper would have got the ball anyhow.”
STEPHEN WARNOCK SAYS: “I thought it was a penalty. You only have to look at other instances, like (James) Tarkowski, you know he’s never getting the ball but he’s bringing him down.”
SUE SMITH SAYS: “You can’t hold a player’s shirt for that long. It’s bound to impact his ability to get the ball.”
Man Utd 2-1 Brentford
INCIDENT: Matthijs de Ligt goes off for treatment to a head injury and Brentford score from a corner while Man Utd are down to 10 men.
DERMOT SAYS: “You can’t have a player bleeding. It happened in the 11th minute, he had treatment, he came back. It’s opened up again he’s gone off. And then a third time. You can’t play like that, we all know that. He has to have it bandaged in some way. They’re down to 10 and a goal resulted from it but that’s not the ref’s fault. You can’t have blood on your body, on your shirt.
“The referee has done exactly right. He’s not the villain here.”
STEPHEN WARNOCK SAYS: “The finger-pointing should be at Man Utd’s medical staff who should have put a head bandage on right away.”
Fulham 1-3 Aston Villa
INCIDENT: Fulham were awarded a penalty for handball following a VAR check.
DERMOT SAYS: “(Matty) Cash is unlucky but it is a penalty because his arm is outstretched, it’s not a natural position. I think it’s a good intervention.”
STEPHEN WARNOCK SAYS: “I think this is really harsh. It’s so close and what is a natural body position as the ball comes over your head and you move towards a player. A natural position would be different for 100 people.”
INCIDENT: Marco Silva was frustrated that ref Darren England sent Joachim Andersen off for a challenge on Ollie Watkins.
DERMOT SAYS: “I was watching it live and thought it was a red straight away. Watkins has control of the ball, he pushes him in the back and makes no attempt to play the ball.”
INCIDENT: There was a sending off for Aston Villa’s Jaden Philogene who collected two late yellow cards. Was the challenge worthy of a second yellow?
DERMOT SAYS: “Enough? Not for me. It’s a foul only. I thought he was very unlucky.”
STEPHEN WARNOCK SAYS: “The worst thing about this is you can’t appeal it. Giving yellow cards for this is pathetic. It’s really poor. It really is.”
Tottenham 4-1 West Ham
INCIDENT: Ref Andy Madley was in charge of West Ham’s defeat at Tottenham and sent off Mohammed Kudus for his reaction to Micky van de Ven’s challenge following a lengthy VAR review. Was it a red card and why did it take so long?
DERMOT SAYS: “It’s a red card. There are a lot of interesting things in this. The referee loses sight of what’s going on because he’s trying to get involved. VAR did really well. He’s rushed in – I understand why refs do it as peacemaker – but he loses focus.
“There have been eight VAR interventions this weekend. It looks much better when the ref goes to the screen and has the final call.”
INCIDENT: West Ham’s Kudus wanted a penalty for handball from Destiny Udogie. Did he have a case?
DERMOT SAYS: “It hits his arm but his arm couldn’t be more tucked into his body.”
Ipswich 0-2 Everton
INCIDENT: There was a debatable decision at Portman Road where Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna found it inexplicable they were denied a penalty after VAR suggested Michael Oliver change his decision after Dwight McNeil’s challenge on Jack Clarke. Was it a clear and obvious error?
DERMOT SAYS: “This is a carbon copy of Calvert-Lewin and Burn the other week, when I explained the attacker caught the defender. The same thing has happened.”
SUE SMITH SAYS: “McNeil puts his leg across Clarke before he’s about to shoot. You have to argue for Ipswich there. I think it’s a penalty.”
STEPHEN WARNOCK SAYS: “I’m not so sure. I think he just stops. McNeil is in that vicinity of, where can I go?”