Former referee Dermot Gallagher dissects the flashpoints from the latest round of the 2023/24 Premier League season including Manchester City's disallowed goal against Liverpool and Manchester United's penalty at Everton.
Man City 1-1 Liverpool
INCIDENT: With Man City winning 1-0, Manuel Akanji competes for Julian Alvarez's corner with goalkeeper Alisson Becker. Alisson claims a foul on him by the City defender as the ball falls to Ruben Dias who scores. Referee Chris Kavanagh ruled out the goal by giving a foul and VAR agreed with him after taking a look. Liverpool equalise later in the game to claim a 1-1 draw.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision
DERMOT SAYS: They say goalkeepers are over protected, but you only have to knock him slightly off balance and he has lost all stability, he can't catch the ball - he loses the ball and knocks him enough off balance to give a foul.
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Everton 0-3 Man Utd
INCIDENT: Anthony Martial goes down under the challenge of Everton defender Ashley Young. Referee John Brooks gives a free kick to Everton after deeming Martial had dived, but then is told by the VAR to look at the monitor. Brooks awards the penalty which United score from and Young, who was already booked, is handed no further punishment.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision
DERMOT SAYS: I thought it was a penalty when I first saw it.
It is difficult to say it is not a foul, he dangles his leg and does not get the ball, his leg is planted as well. When you see that, I just do not think there is anything else you can give but a penalty.
I think Martial is quite happy to go after the ball, but the leg is planted. If you dangle at leg like that, you run the risk.
The referee obviously thought it was careless. It possibly is a second yellow card, but I would not say it is guaranteed and the one thing I would say is to go from a dive for one player to a red card to another is quite a spectrum to travel.
I just wonder, has the referee made that much of an error?
Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa
INCIDENT: The VAR technology was not working for the first 10 minutes of Tottenham's game with Aston Villa on Super Sunday.
DERMOT SAYS: The VAR was working, all the feed was going into Stockley Park, they could see everything. The problem was, it was not relaying to the monitor in the ground.
So if there was an incident that the VAR checked, the VAR operator would have had to relay back to the referee what he had seen, the referee could not go to the monitor himself.
The referee is there to referee the game, the VAR is a backup, it is not there to referee the game.
What you would say is it only lasted 10 minutes, then it was corrected, but for those 10 minutes they were at the mercy of the VAR, he had to make a key match incident rather than the referee going to the screen.
Everybody knew, everybody in the ground, they were checking everything that was going on, it was just that if you had an incident like the Anthony Martial one, the referee had no facility to go to the screen. But that did not occur during that 10-minute period...
INCIDENT: Bryan Gil goes down under Diego Carlos' challenge, with the Tottenham forward felled by Carlos' elbow. No foul was given on the field and VAR cleared the decision.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision
DERMOT SAYS: It [VAR Jarred Gillet] cleared it. It looked and then looked again and just felt there was not enough there for a penalty or a red card.
It always looks worse when you have a tall player up against a smaller player like [Gil], but it was checked and they felt there was no offence.
Burnley 1-2 West Ham
INCIDENT: Luca Koleosho goes down under Vladimir Coufal's challenge but the referee does not award a penalty. VAR takes a look at the incident and agrees with the on-field decision.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Incorrect decision
DERMOT SAYS: I wonder if when the referee looks back he may think the other way round. For me, I think the easiest and most palatable decision there is certainly a penalty.
It is not too dissimilar to the Young one on Martial, he has dangled his leg, he goes over it, but the referee did not think
penalty and the VAR sided with him. I think the VAR felt the Burnley player had initiated the contact.
INCIDENT: Later in the game, Koleosho goes down under Mohammed Kudus' challenge and the referee awards a penalty, which Jay Rodriguez scores from.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Incorrect decision
DERMOT SAYS: I think there is minimal contact, I just do not think that is a penalty - I think they have got them the wrong way round.
Nottingham Forest 2-3 Brighton
INCIDENT: Callum Hudson-Odoi goes down under Jack Hinshelwood's challenge which referee Taylor does not spot. VAR tells Taylor to check the incident at the monitor and the official gives a penalty, which Morgan Gibbs-White scores from. After giving the penalty to Nottingham Forest, Taylor books Brighton captain Lewis Dunk for dissent but then sends the defender off for continuing to make foul and abusive language.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision
DERMOT SAYS: He was not dismissed for dissent, he was yellow-carded for dissent, he was dismissed for insulting and abusive language.
People say, "can you swear at a referee?" You should not, as that is the safest option, but it is not always what you say, it is how you say it. It is the inference.
And without saying what he said, I would not want to call you that on a Monday morning! And if I did, I would not be standing here the following Monday, I can assure you.
So, I think he has gone a little bit too far, he is upset and frustrated as a result of the penalty being given, but for whatever reason, in that short space of time, he has lost control of himself and almost as soon as he said it, he has regretted it as he puts his hand out to the referee as if to say, "I'm really, really sorry". He knows he should not have said it, but he did.
Newcastle 4-1 Chelsea
INCIDENT: After being booked earlier in the game, Reece James is adjudged to have fouled Newcastle's Anthony Gordon on the break and is shown a second yellow card and therefore a red card.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision
DERMOT SAYS: The second one, he decides that if he [Anthony Gordon] gets away from him from there, then he has a clear run up the wing and has no defender to challenge him. So he says he is breaking up a promising attack, which is a yellow-card offence.
So unfortunately for Reece, he has to go.