Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes that Tottenham Hotspur should have had a first penalty during their 2-0 win over West Ham United.
During Sunday’s London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, second half goals from Emerson Royal and Heung-Min Son sealed a derby day victory for Spurs, moving them back into the Premier League’s top four, with the Hammers falling back into the relegation zone.
In the first half, Spurs thought they should have had a penalty when Richarlison’s pass to Harry Kane was blocked by the hand of defender Thilo Kehrer.
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Despite a brief VAR stoppage after the ball went out of play, referee Michael Oliver waved played on, with the incident coming just eight days after West Ham were fortunate to have not given away a penalty against Chelsea after a Tomas Soucek handball.
Speaking about the incident, Gallagher, who managed over 370 Premier League games between August 1992 and May 2007, believes a penalty should have been given.
"I think it's handball and the referee has got to give it because Kehrer has his arm out. If he doesn't then it goes to Harry Kane,” Gallagher told Sky Sports’ Ref Watch.
"The referee has a good view of it and he waves it away. When he talks to VAR, he might have said 'I feel he's falling back and off balance and he's going to go to ground and block the ball.
"The referee has eliminated VAR there to a certain extent there. The only way you're going to get a penalty is for VAR to give it.
"The VAR is not there to decide right or wrong, it's there if it's an absolute howler... Michael Oliver hasn't got the option to go to the screen. He can't just think 'I should have another look at that', it's not his choice.
"If VAR said to him 'you might want to go and have a look at that, we think it's an error', he can still go to the screen and stick with his decision. But it's got to be triggered the other way."
His thoughts were echoed by former Aston Villa and Coventry City striker Dion Dublin.
Speaking on BBC’s Match of the Day 2 , the four-time England international forward feels that a spot-kick should have been awarded to Tottenham.
“Yes, I think they should have. I do think it’s a handball,” said Dublin. “You can go round and round and round about what it should be, is he falling over, does he mean it, is he making the body bigger? From this angle, you can see the ball has hit his hand. For me, it’s a penalty.”
Also on Match of the Day 2 was former Liverpool, Villa and England left-back Stephen Warnock, who had his say on the incident.
Like Gallagher and Dublin, he felt a penalty should have been awarded, but Warnock did praise referee Oliver for how he communicated with Spurs’ players over the incident.
“Absolutely, I think the one thing we have to keep our eye on is the contact from Richarlison, he pushes him,” Warnock added. “His left knee also collapses to go down to the floor and his hand goes out to the side.
“Saying that, what I like about Michael Oliver is there’s this clear communication to the players as well, what is being talked about. I think that’s where the relationship on the pitch between the players and the referee is good because you understand what the players are asking him and what his answer is to that.
“It should have been a penalty though.”
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