Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate was fortunate to avoid a red card during Merseyside derby against Everton; Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was lucky not to concede a penalty while Dermot Gallagher also reflects on three handball decisions
Tuesday 24 October 2023 06:09, UK
Former referee Dermot Gallagher dissects the flashpoints from the latest round of the 2023/24 Premier League season including handball decisions, tight VAR calls and fortune favouring the red half of Merseyside...
INCIDENT: Frustrated defender Jarrad Branthwaite bemoaned inconsistency in Premier League refereeing after claiming Everton were denied "a level playing field" in the Merseyside derby defeat at Anfield.
Ashley Young was sent off for two separate fouls on Luis Diaz in the first half but Everton were furious when Reds defender Ibrahima Konate, already on a yellow card for a foul on Amadou Onana, was not punished a second time for holding back Beto after the break.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk admitted they got lucky that referee Craig Pawson did not show a second yellow card to the Frenchman, who was immediately substituted by Jurgen Klopp, but with the score still goalless Branthwaite felt it could have given them a better chance of avoiding the 2-0 defeat.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Konate should have been sent off.
DERMOT SAYS: "Very lucky. There's a few things - it's so cynical [on Beto], he doesn't make any attempt to play the ball
"Craig's [Pawson] argument might be that he wasn't going to get the ball, but Konate knew what he was doing.
"What summed it up was a minute later when they subbed him and that tells you the story."
What is the difference between Manuel Akanji being shown a yellow and sent off for Manchester City against Brighton and Konate not?
"Consistency is individual. Rob Jones is consistent, he yellow carded him [Akanji] early, quite rightly, and does so here.
"We've all agreed that Konate's should have been a second yellow card.
"You would hope not [the referee feeling the pressure of the game at Anfield]. The guy is put there because of his CV, he's the best man for the job on the day it's felt, that's how the appointments are done."
DERMOT ON YOUNG'S RED CARD: "I think both yellow cards were correct. The first yellow card, he makes a reckless challenge on Diaz. Everybody expected him to go once he was on a yellow card.
"You go in with the mindset that you hope the players don't pick up a technical booking early on, especially a defender or midfielder who is going to make a lot of tackles.
"You put them under pressure and yourself under pressure to follow it through. There's a lot of trust in the players of 'please don't do this and give me that challenge to make'.
"Tackles are different and they stand out."
INCIDENT: Liverpool are awarded a penalty upon VAR review after Luiz Diaz's cross struck the outstretched arm of Michael Keane.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Penalty.
DERMOT SAYS: "With the guidance, it's got to be a penalty. We might not like it, I don't always like handballs that are given, but when you see the arm extended like that, it blocks the cross.
"The directive says 'is his arm extended out' - yes. Does it block a cross? Yes.
"So the tick boxes are penalty, whether people like it or not."
INCIDENT: Chelsea are awarded a penalty for handball against William Saliba inside the box.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Penalty.
DERMOT SAYS: "Again, it falls in line with the tick boxes. I went through the tick boxes on Saturday night - his arm is extended, it strikes his arm and stops it going through.
"Does it comes off Mudryk? Yes, but the fourth tick box says the fact that it comes off a player but it's still going to block a cross because his arm is up there negates that.
"It comes off Mudryk, but blocks it going forward to another player.
"So on the tick boxes, it's a penalty."
STEPHEN WARNOCK: "It's not a penalty for me. It's a subjective call, so what has the referee missed on the pitch that the VAR thinks is clear and obvious? For me, it's subjective and this is an example of re-refereeing the game."
SUE SMITH: "You can't go for a header with your arms by your side. I thought the decision was really harsh."
GALLAGHER: "I don't think for one second it's not harsh."
INCIDENT: Chelsea were held to a 2-2 draw by Arsenal on Saturday Night Football, but goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was lucky to not give away another penalty...
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Sanchez can have no complaints.
DERMOT SAYS: "I think if a penalty is given, he [Sanchez] can't argue. He's nowhere near the ball. If the referee thought he caught his own man and cannoned into Jesus, I don't know.
"But he's nowhere near the ball and clattered into him."
SUE SMITH: "It's absolutely a penalty. He completely clatters into Jesus. I've no idea why this wasn't given."
STEPHEN WARNOCK: "If that is on the edge of the box or the halfway line and, say, Thiago Silva goes into Jesus, then you are thinking it's a yellow card and a foul. How this wasn't given a penalty is completely beyond me."
INCIDENT: Sheffield United are awarded a penalty after Scott McTominay was adjudged to have handled inside the box by referee Michael Oliver.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Penalty.
DERMOT SAYS: "What's good about this is the referee gave it on field. He's very positive, VAR looked at it and backed the referee.
"Again, his arm is extended. I went through the checklist and you might not like it, but it's a penalty."
On Harry Maguire's challenge on James McAtee later in the game:
"He runs a risk but the referee eventually makes the decision of no penalty because the referee has a clear view. He's eliminated the VAR because he has not made a clear and obvious error.
"Any challenge like that, you've got to get the ball. But the referee has the best view and because he eliminated the AVR and 'cut the grass' as we call it, the VAR has nowhere to go."
INCIDENT: Brentford thought they had taken an eighth-minute lead against Burnley on Saturday when Neal Maupay finished off Nathan Collins' pull-back from a free-kick only for the goal to be disallowed for offside.
The decision went to VAR but, despite Collins clearly being onside the goal was ruled out because Kristoffer Ajer, who was in an offside position but a few yards away from Collins, was deemed to be interfering with play.
The decision was labelled "strange" by former Premier League referee Mike Dean on Soccer Saturday.
It was later explained by the PGMOL that Ajer had been given offside as he was obstructing Lyle Foster. Brentford boss Thomas Frank said afterwards he believed the goal was "very borderline".
DERMOT'S VERDICT: No goal.
DERMOT SAYS: "There's a lot of moving parts and I couldn't understand why it was disallowed.
"But then someone from the VAR hub pointed out that if you look a the bottom of the screen, Ajer pulls back Foster, impacting his ability to clear.
"So it's a really good spot because it's very difficult."
INCIDENT: Jacob Murphy's early opener is allowed to stand after a lengthy VAR review. Kieran Trippier was initially ruled to have been offside in the build-up but replays showed he was on.
DERMOT SAYS: "This is where VAR works 100 per cent and the process since the Tottenham-Liverpool game has changed.
"The first thing they said was 'what is the on-field decision', which was offside. You've got a start point and then you look at it and it's onside. Goal given.
"What happens [after an incident like the Diaz offside] is you go back to basics, run everything through. Things are taking longer, which is natural because you're protecting yourself.
"You're going to overcompensate, but that will get slicker as people get more confident. But the process has improved without doubt."
