Leeds United supporters felt they could have had chance to steal all three points against Brighton when the ball struck Joel Veltman’s arm in the penalty area deep into stoppage time. After he had set up Pascal Struijk’s equaliser, Joe Gelhardt fell to his knees pleading for a spot-kick when another of his crosses was blocked by the arm of the Seagulls defender.
Mike Dean waved away the protests from Leeds staff, players and fans and his decision was supported by Andre Marriner on VAR. Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher then further backed up the decision not to award a penalty on ‘Ref Watch’ on Sky Sports News.
“It strikes him [Veltman], no doubt about that,” he admitted. “It strikes his arm as the cross comes in but you see that his arm is by his body. His arm is actually out then he brings it back in so his arm is very, very close to him when it hits him.”
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The decision made by Dean could certainly be classified under the ‘wouldn’t have been overturned had it been given’ category but it also would have been harsh on Veltman. Given the power on Gelhardt’s cross and the distance between the two players, the Dutch defender could not have done any more to keep his arm as close to his body as possible.
Had it been given, it would have given Leeds the chance to claim another unlikely late victory, having gone into stoppage time a goal down. Although, in some ways, at least it spared Whites fans the nerves of watching Raphinha step up to take what would have been the biggest pressure penalty of his career so far.
