Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has disagreed with former England internationals Danny Murphy and Dion Dublin over West Ham United’s goals against Fulham on Sunday.
West Ham were 3-1 winners over their London rivals at the London Stadium, despite going behind early on through Andreas Pereira’s strike. Jarrod Bowen levelled proceedings from the penalty spot in the first half after Craig Dawson was blocked by Pereira, before goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Michail Antonio in the second half sealed all three points.
Speaking on BBC’s Match of the Day 2, former Premier League veterans Murphy and Dublin thought all three goals should have been ruled out, including Scamacca’s and Antonio’s for handball, with the duo believing that Dawson fouled Pereira rather than the other way around.
READ MORE: Danny Murphy and Dion Dublin deliver verdicts on West Ham’s three controversial goals vs Fulham
However, former Premier League referee Gallagher, who took charge of 261 Premier League matches between 1992 and 2007, thinks that all three goals were right to stand.
On the penalty decision leading to Bowen’s equaliser, Gallagher felt the correct decision was given after Pereira was warned seconds earlier by referee Chris Kavanagh for blocking Dawson, only to do so again to lead to the penalty.
“There’s a couple of clues, he’s been told three or four times on and on and on,” Gallagher told Ref Watch on Sky Sports. “When the ball comes across Pereira never focuses on the ball, it’s always on Dawson and I’ve said before, the only way to deal with this is to give a penalty because it acts as a deterrent for the future.”
The most talked about of West Ham’s three goals was Scamacca’s to make it 2-1 shortly before the hour mark. VAR checked it for both a potential offside and handball from the Italian prior to him lobbing Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno for his sixth goal of the season in all competitions.
Gallagher believes that because VAR could not confidently determine whether or not he handled the ball prior to shooting despite a long stoppage, they were right to award the goal, although Gallagher thought Scamacca’s arm did touch the ball.
“I actually think it touches his hand but in fairness to the VAR, he studied it and studied it, he studied for two minutes and 40 seconds and he come to the conclusion he wasn’t convinced it struck the hand, if he’s not convinced he can’t give it,” explained Gallagher.
“Many say it touched his hand but I’d say it touches his hand with the way the ball travels down. I certainly think it touches his hand on the way down, it was a difficult call. He studied it, he didn’t just look it and throw it away, it took two minutes and 40 seconds so no one can criticise him for not being diligent. I think it’s the first one that touches the hand because the ball goes straight down.”
Late on, Antonio made it 3-1 after scoring a rebounded effort from close range, having seen his initial shot saved by Leno. However, in the process of going through on goal, Antonio appeared to hit the ball with his hand.
Because after hitting Antonio’s arm it hit a Fulham defender, by law, play is reset, and therefore, Gallagher feels that based on the laws of the game, there are no grounds to disallow the goal.
“Did we not have any easy ones this week?” added Gallagher. “I think it was handball originally, he swipes at it but because it’s not picked up because it doesn’t materialise in a goal.
“The argument is the Fulham players touched the ball so it’s reset, the law says if it strikes his hand, it’s got to go directly to the player or his colleague. That’s where it’s complicated, the easy thing is if it got picked up on that it was handball but the VAR deemed that it wasn’t handball so he can’t penalise that.”
READ NEXT:
Every word West Ham’s David Moyes said on Fulham win, VAR, Gianluca Scamacca and Lucas Paqueta
How West Ham can qualify for the last 16 of the Europa Conference League against Anderlecht
Jarrod Bowen continues to rise to David Moyes’ challenge as West Ham’s newest partnership grows
What Jarrod Bowen did before Michail Antonio’s goal for West Ham during Fulham win
West Ham player ratings: Lucas Paqueta stars in Hammers' Fulham win after VAR controversy
