Plus: Should Tottenham have been awarded a penalty against Sheffield United? Was Brentford boss Thomas Frank right to be upset by the decision to give Newcastle a spot-kick on SNF? Dermot Gallagher has his say in the latest Ref Watch...
Monday 18 September 2023 18:32, UK
Former referee Dermot Gallagher dissects the flashpoints from the weekend's Premier League action, including a controversial offside call at Goodison Park.
INCIDENT: Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli sees his first-half strike at Everton ruled out for offside by VAR.
WHAT GARY NEVILLE SAID ON SUPER SUNDAY: "Even I'm a little confused, he looked well behind. There looks to be a little bit of guess work with the blue line, I have to say. Sometimes you get a feeling a decision isn't right and that one didn't feel right."
DERMOT SAYS: "It is a good call as Eddie Nketiah is offside, he starts in an offside position, then comes back. As Gabriel plays the ball up, it strikes Beto.
"I do not think there is any way you can say he would play the ball back like that, so therefore he is in an offside position and it goes to Martinelli, and he scores.
"And the VAR then correctly disallows it. If you look at Beto, he has gone to close him down, it flies off his shin, because it is played at speed, it goes to Nketiah and you can see he is offside and I think it is a good call."
INCIDENT: Everton's Abdoulaye Doucoure not given a penalty after William Saliba challenge.
DERMOT SAYS: "Not for me. He pushed the ball too far.
"There's a bit of contact but Saliba pulled his leg away. Not a penalty."
INCIDENT: Chelsea's Malo Gusto not given penalty after collision with Bournemouth's Lloyd Kelly.
DERMOT SAYS: "I would have been very disappointed if a penalty was given for this.
"It's minimal contact at best - and not in the penalty area."
INCIDENT: Oli McBurnie given second yellow card for protesting at referee Peter Bankes.
DERMOT SAYS: "For a referee to send somebody off for something they've said to them, it can't have been something nice.
"It's not always what you say to a referee but how you say it.
"He's said something that he's found very upsetting."
INCIDENT: Chris Basham brings down James Maddison in the box, but Spurs are not awarded a penalty against Sheffield United.
DERMOT SAYS: "For me, no, minimal contact. How it puts him down like that, I do not know because the contact is on the left ankle and he throws himself on the right.
"I do not think there is enough to give a penalty. What they are very strong on this season is the contact has to be of consequence."
INCIDENT: Callum Wilson goal disallowed for foul on Mark Flekken
DERMOT SAYS: "I thought the goalkeeper flapped at the ball but Callum Wilson actually blocks his arm.
"It was a good spot."
INCIDENT: Brentford boss Thomas Frank wants an apology after Newcastle were awarded a second-half penalty at St James' Park for a foul by Mark Flekken on Anthony Gordon.
DERMOT SAYS: "The referee [Craig Pawson] did not think so. It is very interesting as it took so long to give it that it was obvious the assistant had given it.
"You can see from the assistant's angle that he thought the goalkeeper had put his leg in and Gordon goes over it. It all depends on whether he thinks the goalkeeper has got him.
"He does not get the ball, that is the only certainty. I think if you split referees, some will give it and some will not."
