Dermot Gallagher on Dominic Calvert-Lewin's goal: "When you see it, that's what John Moss has seen. That evidence falls into the in line of vision, he's in line of De Gea, he's in the six-yard box, he could not be in a worse position for that ball to be played"
Monday 2 March 2020 23:19, UK
Why did Dominic Calvert-Lewin's Everton winner get ruled out? Why did no one spot a big mistake in the Carabao Cup final? As always, Dermot Gallagher is here with the answers...
Dermot joined Rob Wotton, Sue Smith and Stephen Warnock on Sky Sports News for his weekly review of the big decisions.
INCIDENT: Everton look to have scored a late winner when Dominic Calvert-Lewin's shot deflects beyond David de Gea off Harry Maguire. With celebrations in full swing, a VAR review disallows the goal owing to Gylfi Sigurdsson lying offside in front of De Gea at the time of the shot, which is ruled is within his line of sight and affecting the play.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: I think it was right, but a lot of people don't. When you see the angle from behind, when the ball is struck, he's completely in the line of De Gea. The goalkeeper thinks he has to set himself for the ball to come completely through the line of Sigurdsson.
As it is, it hits Maguire, but as the ball rolls on he's quite clearly in his line of vision. Anyone watching the game knowing the laws would have to say it's offside.
I've listened to loads of people about this in the last 24 hours, but when you see it, that's what John Moss has seen. That evidence falls into the in line of vision, he's in line of De Gea, he's in the six-yard box, he could not be in a worse position for that ball to be played.
INCIDENT: In the build-up to the disallowed goal, De Gea pulls off a smart stop to keep out Sigurdsson's effort before the Everton man goes down under a challenge from Aaron Wan-Bissaka. He appears to be on his way down before any contact is made and VAR does not intervene.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: I saw this and I wasn't sure it was a penalty. I think Sigurdsson gets the shot away, and then goes over the leg of Wan-Bissaka. When you see that there, he collapses.
You can't give a penalty for something that hasn't happened. I don't think it's a foul, I agree he sees the leg coming in but he collapses.
INCIDENT: Jack Grealish slides in for a tackle on Ilkay Gundogan on the edge of his own penalty area, taking the ball behind the byline off the Manchester City midfielder. The nearby assistant referee, whose view is blocked by Gundogan, awards a corner, from which Rodri then scores City's second goal.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: It wasn't a corner. Ian Hudson, the assistant, his problem is that he's behind the Manchester City player, Ilkay Gundogan, and doesn't see it strike his body. He only sees Jack Grealish clear it. He tells the referee he can't see it, so he went with a corner.
If the fourth official thought he could see it then he could mention it, but he may have not seen it - he could have been dealing with the benches, or something else. I never used to like being a fourth official because I only saw about 40 per cent of the match, you don't see much.
Unfortunately VAR can't jump in. It can't take part on restarts unless it's a penalty. That's where we are at the moment, and otherwise you end up re-refereeing every incident; corners, throw-ins, goal kicks. You might as well not have the referee there in that case.
INCIDENT: Towards the end of the match, Marvelous Nakamba jumps into a challenge on Sergio Aguero with his feet initially off the floor, and catches him on the ankle. The referee issues a yellow card.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: I think it's a yellow card, I thought that when I saw it. It's hard, it's low, everyone said he went two footed but he actually went one-footed. I think the referee got it right. Most tackles have their feet off the ground when they go in, but it's low, it's reckless but it's certainly not endangering the safety of an opponent.
Should referees use the review area more often? Could it not be changed mid-season?
DERMOT'S VERDICT: The referee still has the option to go to the monitor, even if they're advised of something they can still have a look. But at the moment, the feeling is, unless the VAR is going to recommend a yellow upgraded to a red card, or vice versa, they will go accordingly.
At the end of the season I think they'll take a look at it, see what's worked and what hasn't, see what can work better. The fact they're using it now and weren't at the start of the season shows they feel it can be an added bonus, I think the three times they've been so far has worked very well.
