Anthony Gordon was denied a penalty after a challenge from Joel Matip; Sadio Mane and Richarlison both could have been sent off as Liverpool won 2-0; plus: Why Michael Oliver was right to upgrade West Ham defender Craig Dawson's yellow card to a red against Chelsea
Monday 25 April 2022 21:12, UK
In the latest Ref Watch, Dermot Gallagher looks back on a feisty Merseyside derby, with penalty calls and possible red cards dominating the agenda.
INCIDENT: Anthony Gordon, who had earlier been booked for diving by referee Stuart Attwell, appeared to be knocked to the ground by Liverpool defender Joel Matip as the two chased down a ball behind the home defence with the game goalless at Anfield.
Attwell waved away appeals for a spot-kick from with VAR also declining to intervene, a decision Carragher told Sky Sports denied Everton a clear penalty - but one which he added may have been influenced by the forward's earlier perceived simulation.
Everton manager Frank Lampard also told Sky Sports: He said: "It was a penalty in the second half. I don't think you get them here. I think if that is Mo Salah at the other end, he gets the penalty.
"I am not trying to create conflict there, I just think it is the reality of football sometimes. Maybe I have played for clubs sometimes at the top reaches of the league, with the crowd behind them, you get more than you don't.
"The second one on Anthony is a foul. It is a clear foul. But you don't get them here."
DERMOT'S VERDICT: An on-field decision by the referee.
DERMOT SAYS: "I think it's an on-field decision - the referee has to make this decision. There's an arm on the shoulder, there's no doubt about that, and he goes down. I think they get tangled up.
"The referee is really clever because he doesn't make an instant decision. If you look at him, he knows it's a big decision, and he almost runs it through, gives himself time and makes his decision.
"On that basis, it has to be his call, There's no point throwing to VAR because you can't say the referee has made a clear and obvious error because he has thought it through so much.
"I'd have gone with my gut reaction. I thought it was a penalty first, but when I saw it again, I wasn't convinced. It was a little bit too theatrical, the way he [Gordon] went down. He went down too easily for me so if I had gone to the screen, I would've stuck with no penalty.
"They [the referees] have a threshold of 'is there enough [contact] to give a penalty'. They didn't think it covered the threshold. It has to be Stuart's call, not anyone else."
Sue Smith added: "It's a penalty for me. Gordon gets across Matip, and I think Matip is clumsy. He makes contact with Gordon, who clearly goes down because of that contact. I would've liked Stuart Attwell to go to the monitor and have a look again. I've watched it numerous times and every time, I think it's a penalty.
"When you're running at pace, any sort of contact, and you're going to go down."
Stephen Warnock added: "If I was a defender, I'm worried. My initial reaction straight away was 'that's a penalty'. Then the more I watch it, I can see what Dermot's saying. But I feel like there's a shove in the back from Matip, which is enough to send Gordon down at the speed he's moving at.
"It falls into that bracket of 'I'm surprised it's not given', but I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been... But looking at it time and again, I feel like it should've been a penalty."
INCIDENT: In one of the final incidents just before half-time, Sadio Mane looked to push Allan in the face and appeared to poke Mason Holgate in the face. However, he only saw a yellow card for the altercations.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Mane lucky to still be on the pitch.
DERMOT SAYS: "When you see the whole package, he is very lucky to still be on the pitch. Stuart and VAR are very unlucky because of the protocol. There's so much going on and Stuart sees the first one [on Allan] and he [Mane] is yellow carded, he may even have been alerted by his assistant.
"So they have the first incident. The second incident you see later on with Holgate doesn't get witnessed. VAR can only look at it if it's a red card. VAR feels it's a yellow card offence and he can't recommend a yellow card offence to the referee.
"So even though he would have got a second yellow card, he can't do that. Therefore, Mane escapes."
INCIDENT: Late in the game, Everton striker Richarlison kicked out at Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson after a tussle. He was booked for the incident.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Richarlison also lucky to have not been sent off.
DERMOT SAYS: "Not a wise thing to do. We keep using the word lucky and he is. If you look, He's actually connected to Henderson's leg, but I think it's interpreted as a push away more than a kick. It's not as if he's taken his leg back and fired the studs into his shin to knock him off.
"But why would you do that? It's a Merseyside derby, there's a couple of minutes to go and he could easily, on another day, be facing a three-match ban. That's the season practically over, but why run the risk?"
Warnock added: "How important is Richarlison to Everton for the run-in? If he gets sent off there, a three-game ban, and you can imagine Frank Lampard thinking 'what are you doing?'. Everton fans would be going ballistic.
"I couldn't believe he did that... I know it's a push, but it's into the knee. It's just petulant and stupid - I just didn't get it at all.
INCIDENT: West Ham defender Craig Dawson gave away a penalty to Chelsea after pulling Romelu Lukaku to the floor inside the area. Dawson was initially shown a yellow card but after a VAR review, it was upgraded to a red card.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "It's a penalty, there's no doubt about that because he pulls Lukaku back. My instant reaction was a yellow card because the goalkeeper mopped it up.
"The referee has one look and he sees the pull back and the ball go through to the goalkeeper because when he's pulled back, Lukaku actually stops... Because the ball runs through to the goalkeeper so quickly, I thought he would pick up.
"But Lukaku has the ball at his feet, so the VAR looked at that and he recommended that Michael [Oliver] does to the screen and he's seen what we've seen there.
"I think it was a really good process because to the naked eye, I fully understand why the referee gave a yellow card. It's very difficult to say he made a genuine effort to play the ball when there's an upper body challenge."
INCIDENT: Up against Jadon Sancho, Cedric Soares lost his balance and stumbled to the ground before appearing to stop the ball with his hand. Sancho appealed for what could have been a free-kick or a penalty, with the incident right on the edge of the penalty area.
However, referee Craig Pawson waved away the appeals, and there was no VAR intervention either.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "It's covered in law because his arm is on the ground, so it's deemed supporting his body and it struck him rather than him striking the ball. I don't think it was a scoop.
"That's what the referee works too - supporting your body, striking the arm and they don't give a penalty."
INCIDENT: Anthony Elanga got in behind Nuno Tavares, who found himself on the wrong side. The left-back got a bit too tight to Elanga, who went down in the penalty area, but the referee again waved away the United appeals and the VAR stayed with the on-field decision.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "Not enough for me. He goes down a bit too easily and it's not a penalty for me. The arm touches him, there's no doubt about that, but I don't think there was enough in it."
INCIDENT: Granit Xhaka unleashed a strike from 25 yards with power and precision, and the ball flew past David de Gea and into the bottom corner. However, pictures show Eddie Nketiah was standing in an offside position, but was he blocking the Man Utd goalkeeper's view? The goal eventually stood.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "It was felt that the distance he was from the goalkeeper was too far to be in the line of vision so they were of the opinion that he was too far out.
"I think it occurred earlier this season, there was a similar one with Teemu Pukki at Norwich when the goal was given so they have been consistent.
"His position of looking round, he is looking around Lindelof as well, so you could argue he had been looking around Lindelof anyhow."
INCIDENT: Around the half an hour mark, Martin Odegaard picked out Bukayo Saka, who was bundled to the ground inside the box before the ball fell loose to Nketiah, who ticked the ball home.
The Arsenal celebrations were initially cut short as the effort was ruled out for offside by VAR, but the technology then took another look at the challenge on Saka by Alex Telles.
Referee Craig Pawson was sent over to the pitchside monitor and eventually awarded the penalty to Arsenal, with Saka once again stepping up as he did at Chelsea on Wednesday night to slot home.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Good use of the VAR process.
DERMOT SAYS: "The interesting thing about this was that the referee always thought it was a penalty, but he was playing the advantage because he thought Nketiah would score.
"Because he was offside, he couldn't score so it reverted back. VAR sent him to the monitor to check whether it was a penalty and he gave it, but they are of the opinion that it was always a foul and they were just playing on."
Warnock added: "It was great that the process was done properly by VAR because as soon as you see that tackle going in, you think it's a penalty. It's a clear one too so a really good decision."
INCIDENT: Man Utd could have ended the game with 10 men after a crunching tackle from Bruno Fernandes on Tavares.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Lucky to escape a red card.
DERMOT SAYS: "Why would you do this? VAR looked at it and backed the referee, but I think it's a red card because it's just so late… He's really lucky."
