Ref Watch: Dermot Gallagher analyses Premier League, Championship and La Liga decisions
Monday 18 January 2016 21:20, UK
Ref Watch is back to debate another batch of controversial decisions from the weekend's football.
We've got a bumper edition this week as former top-flight referee Dermot Gallagher joined Rob Wotton in the Sky Sports News HQ studio to go through a number of contentious calls, not only in the Premier League but also in the Championship and La Liga.
From offside goals, questionable penalty decisions, off-the-ball incidents and a failure to show a red card in Spain, we have picked out eight incidents reviewed during Monday's Ref Watch.
Was your team affected by a contentious decision? Read on to find out...
MATCH: Chelsea v Everton, Saturday
INCIDENT: Late Chelsea goal given by referee Mike Jones and assistant referee Mike Mullarkey.
SCENARIO: The ball is played long to the edge of the Everton penalty area. Kurt Zouma, then Branislav Ivanovic win headers before Oscar beats Phil Jagielka in the air in the penalty area to flick the ball into the path of John Terry, who is in an offside position. The Chelsea defender back heels the ball past Tim Howard to grab an equaliser in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Wrong decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "The assistant referee gets it absolutely spot on to rule out Kevin Mirallas' goal earlier in the game. He got that right. For Terry's goal, the referee isn't aware that the Chelsea defender is in an offside position. When Oscar flicks the ball on the assistant referee should trigger the referee and say I'm not sure whether a Chelsea forward or the defender headed the ball on. You've got the gather the information. If it's off a Chelsea forward, Terry is in an offside position but that conversation obviously didn't happen because the goal was given."
MATCH: Real Madrid v Sporting Gijon, Sunday
INCIDENT: Free-kick to Real, but Cristiano Ronaldo was not booked
SCENARIO: Ronaldo gives a pass to Karim Benzema but is blocked off in the process by Cases. Ronaldo aims a kick at Cases with the midfielder showing marks on his leg to the referee.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Wrong decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "Ronaldo is a very lucky boy because if you run the risk of raising your leg that high you are giving the referee a decision to make. As it is the referee hasn't made a decision he doesn't want to but he could have quite easily shown the red card. He has given a free-kick to Real Madrid for the block on Ronaldo and I'm not sure whether he has switched off or not. It is a foul on Ronaldo but he could have switched off after giving that decision and then not seen what has happened. If he is focused on the kick out then he's pulling out a red card."
MATCH: Chelsea v Everton, Saturday
INCIDENT: No action taken on Diego Costa by referee Mike Jones.
SCENARIO: Costa goes in late on Everton full-back Leighton Baines and brings him down. The Chelsea striker then hobbles off the pitch before going down clutching his right leg. Costa then rolls back on the pitch before getting treatment from the Chelsea medical team.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Correct decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "I don't think he can do too much different to what has happened. He's gone off from his own momentum so there's not a lot you can do about it. Costa has rolled back on because he's saying he's a player. Mike Jones is then in a difficult position as the physio will say 'I've got to asses him'. We are very careful. You have to look after and protect the player so the minute the physio says he has to assess him you can't really do a lot. It's clever of Costa because if he's off the field they would have to play on with 10 men - but Chelsea had to still play with 10 men because he had to go off after treatment anyway."
MATCH: Newcastle v West Ham, Saturday
INCIDENT: No action taken on Jonjo Shelvey by referee Neil Swarbrick.
SCENARIO: Away from the ball, Enner Valencia makes a run towards the Newcastle penalty area. In his way is Shelvey and the two players collide with Valencia going to ground.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Correct decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "I do not think the FA will take further action against Shelvey. With the rules being that it's got to be an incident unseen by the match officials, the referee is so close and is looking at the incident. And with the fact he has waved it away and played on, I think it will be done and dusted. It seems the referee has seen it so I don't think they will be taking any further action. The referee only reports on extraordinary incidents so I wouldn't think he would consider reporting the collision involving Shelvey and Valencia. The referee didn't stop the game and did not do anything about it. For me, I think this incident will just run its course."
MATCH: Aston Villa v Leicester, Saturday
INCIDENT: Leicester are awarded a penalty by Roger East for handball with Aly Cissokho shown a yellow card.
SCENARIO: Jamie Vardy's low cross from the left is met by the oncoming Riyad Mahrez. He strikes the ball powerfully towards goal but his effort is blocked by the hand of Cissokho.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Correct decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "The easy bit is that it's not a red card because Kasper Schmeichel is behind him. The defender has got his hand up so high I cannot see how you can't give handball for that. He is trying to bring his hand down but by doing that he has stopped the ball. We talked last week about the incident involving Newcastle's Chancel Mbebmba and if the players put their arms that high they are running the risk of a penalty. I don't think any referee is not going to give a handball for somebody having their arms that high."
MATCH: Aston Villa v Leicester, Saturday
INCIDENT: Aston Villa goal given by referee Roger East.
SCENARIO: The ball is fizzed into Rudy Gestede, who fails to bring the ball under control. It deflects up and hits his hand before the striker fires a deflected shot past Schmeichel to level the scores at Villa Park.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Correct decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "It's not handball. It is unfortunate Gestede has gained an advantage from it but it has to be deliberate for a free-kick to be given. It's quite clear the ball comes off his own foot and hits his hand. That's the key. It hits his hand rather than his hand going to the ball. The reason we are talking about this is because a goal has been scored from it. If the shot had gone over the bar, the handball is of no consequence."
MATCH: Stoke v Arsenal, Sunday
INCIDENT: Arsenal are denied a penalty by referee Craig Pawson.
SCENARIO: Aaron Ramsey threads the ball through to Theo Walcott. Philipp Wollscheid appears to grab the Arsenal man's arm just outside the box and after a brief tussle the striker goes down inside the box with the ball running through to Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Correct decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "I thought it was outside the box anyhow. Whether it's a foul or not is immaterial because it's not a penalty for me. If he gives a foul he's going to give a free-kick. He's outside the penalty area. I think it probably is a foul but it's not a penalty. It started outside the box. It's more of a collision. He has pulled him and he has realised and let him go. It's then that Walcott has gone down. For me, the referee has got it half-right. It's not a penalty."
MATCH: Southampton v West Brom, Saturday
INCIDENT: Southampton awarded a penalty by referee Martin Atkinson.
SCENARIO: Shane Long plays a pass in behind the West Brom defence for Matt Targett to chase. The Southampton man just gets across Craig Dawson, who goes into the back of Targett. Both men go to the floor with referee Atkinson pointing to the spot.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Correct decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "It's taken Martin Atkinson until this stage into the season to give a penalty but he has certainly given one that is a penalty. If you are going to barge into the back of somebody you are running the risk of a penalty. He may have run across him but he has not taken the ball. The defender needs to avoid him. Forwards are taught to run across the defender and that's the danger. He has run across the defender and the defender has gone into the back of him. I think Martin Atkinson is well within his rights to give a penalty."
MATCH: Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds, Saturday
INCIDENT: Leeds goal ruled out by referee Anthony Taylor.
SCENARIO: Leeds United are awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position on the right flank. In the meantime Sheffield Wednesday are making a substitution with Fernando Forestieri set to be replaced by Lucas Joao. With Forestieri making his way off the pitch, the referee blows his whistle for play to resume and Leeds score from the free-kick through Liam Cooper. The goal is initially given but after much debate from both sides Taylor disallowed the goal.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Correct decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "Ultimately, Anthony Taylor got the decision right. He got it right through being bailed out by the fourth official. The big mistake he has made is he hasn't stuck to the basics. The basic thing is free-kick monitored, free-kick set-up, check everybody and make sure the player is off the field. He hasn't done that. He has looked around and presumed he is going off and thinks by the time he has blown his whistle the substitution will be completed. The easiest thing is just to say 'wait', do it in your own time and control the situation. That would have saved all that trouble at the end. You cannot restart the game until the players have swapped over. The referee can either whistle the player to hurry up, he can yellow card him and he can add the time on at the end but he can't restart the game until the substitution is completed."
