Monday 22 May 2017 17:31, UK
Dermot Gallagher is back for his final Ref Watch of the season, and says Middlesbrough should have had a penalty at Anfield.
The former top-flight referee runs through the key decisions from the weekend with presenter Rob Wotton on Premier League Daily on Sky Sports News HQ, as well as contentious calls from League One and La Liga.
Bamford penalty call - Liverpool 3-0 Middlesbrough
INCIDENT: Patrick Bamford gets goal-side of Dejan Lovren and goes down inside the penalty area. With the score at 0-0 and Liverpool looking nervy, the outcome of the game could have changed. Liverpool went on to win and secure a top-four spot at the expense of Arsenal.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Incorrect decision - I think it's a really, really tough call for Martin Atkinson, and one that is going to divide opinion. I think for me it's a foul. The forward has been clever, has got in front of the defender, and if the referee gives a foul he gives a red card. I think Joel Matip goes across, and that's where he is unlucky, just as the two players are going into the area, and he can't gamble.
Terry subbed off with help of Sunderland - Chelsea 5-1 Sunderland
INCIDENT: John Terry is substituted after 26 minutes of his final game at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea. David Moyes later revealed that he had agreed for Sunderland to kick the ball out so the defender could be substituted. Terry wears the number 26 shirt.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Chelsea didn't ask the referee, they asked the opposing manager. The referee could not agree to that if they had asked him. Because Chelsea were the champions without doubt, and because Sunderland were relegated without doubt, there was no compromise of integrity. There is nothing in the laws of the game against this. The referee would have been the Aunt Sally of the situation if he had done anything there, the party-pooper. The referee had to go along with that.
Koscielny red card - Arsenal 3-1 Everton
INCIDENT: Michael Oliver sends Laurent Koscielny off for a hefty lunge on Enner Valencia.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision - Oliver has refereed out of his skin for the last three months, and what I liked about this decision is, he goes in quickly, makes his decision and it stopped anything else going on. He's quite right, the speed and intensity of the challenge, it's a red card.
Steve Morison offside call - Bradford 0-1 Millwall
INCIDENT: Steve Morison scores a late winner in Millwall's League One play-off final victory over Bradford, but may have been offside from the near-post flick on.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: It's impossible at the speed the players are moving, for anybody to see it. Is he offside? It's a fraction of his body, and that's not how we play the game, we don't play the game by stopping video cameras and looking across. When we go down that road, and we will go down it, it will be black and white.
Alba's bizarre penalty award - Barcelona 4-2 Eibar
INCIDENT: Jordi Alba stumbles as he takes a shot on goal in Barcelona's victory over Eibar. The referee believes he has seen a foul, gives a penalty, but Lionel Messi misses.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: This is one of the most baffling penalty decisions I have ever seen. I really do mean that. The player isn't even in the vicinity of him. It's baffling what the referee has seen.
