Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes the officials got all three big decisions correct in Leeds United’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal. The Whites were narrowly beaten by the Premier League leader’s courtesy of Bukayo Saka’s first half goal but the game was not short of controversy.
After his half time introduction from the bench, Patrick Bamford was at the heart of most of the game’s big talking points. First, he saw his goal chalked off by referee Chris Kavanagh just moments after the break following a push on Gabriel, which Gallagher thinks was the right call.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ ref watch, he said: “I thought it was a foul, when you see it, it is hard to say it is not a foul. The interesting thing is he [Bamford] has pointed to his chest there, to say it’s not handball I think he said to the referee. You see there he quite clearly pushes him, without VAR that would not have been given.”
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After a lengthy VAR check, Leeds were then awarded a penalty midway through the second half after William Saliba was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the area. Gallagher also claimed this was the correct decision, as well as explaining why Leeds were not penalised for an offside earlier in the build-up.
Bamford, of course, went onto drag the spot-kick wide of Aaron Ramsdale’s left post.
Gallagher added: “This is the first one I talked about, I think it is handball. Not given on the field, but given by VAR. If the VAR wasn’t in play, it would not have been given. The referee’s decision would’ve been play on but you see quite clearly, it’s not just that his arm has hit the ball, but he’s moved towards it. Penalty for me.
“He {Kristensen] is offside in the build-up, but I think it goes on too long. The ball goes back, gets recycled, they talk about second phase, they talk about re-setting up, it takes too long so they don’t go back that far. It didn’t lead directly to the penalty but there has to be a point where they say reset.”
But the controversy did not end there, though, as deep into stoppage time Leeds were awarded a second penalty of the game after a kick out from Gabriel on Bamford, which also initially saw the Brazilian sent off. After consulting VAR, Arsenal were instead awarded a free-kick due to a push by Bamford first, with Gabriel’s red card changing to a yellow.
Again, Gallagher believes that the officials came to the correct decision. “I think it did, it’s a really interesting incident because the referee doesn’t give anything,” he said.
“If you watch the assistant, he says to him I think he’s kicked out violently, so it’s got to be a penalty as well because the ball is in play. He gives a penalty and a red card, but you see quite clearly that he [Bamford] has committed a foul.
“You then see the leg come up, it’s petulant, it’s unsporting but it’s not violent. When he goes to the TV monitor, VAR has said to have a look at it. I think ultimately the right decision has been made. I would also say without that, Arsenal could’ve possibly lost two points if that penalty had been scored and they would’ve certainly lost a player for three matches.”
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