Ref Watch: Paul Pogba’s draw at West Ham leaves lessons for assistant referees – Dermot Gallagher | Football news

In the latest issue of Ref Watch, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher highlights an important lesson for assistant referees after Paul Pogba’s controversial draw at West Ham.

Dermot joined Rob Wotton in Sky Sports News to review the big decisions of the weekend …

West Ham 1-3 Man Utd

3:01

INCIDENT: Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson’s punt along the touchline was taken offside in preparation for Paul Pogba’s draw at London Stadium. The team of referees on the field did not see it and the VAR could not reverse due to insufficient evidence.

VERDICT: “There are a couple of issues here. The guy with the best eyesight didn’t use it. The assistants prioritize offside and offside ball. In this situation, the ball was so low over the wing when Henderson kicked it that offside is irrelevant at that point, the key question is where the ball is going to go.

“The assistant is looking directly across the field on offside and does not see the flight of the ball, so it was not picked up on the field. When he went to VAR, there was no conclusive evidence that the ball had gone off. .

“Look out, and then we saw it went off, but the calibration is horizontal, there is no lateral line, so they couldn’t calibrate from corner flag to corner flag to see the ball was gone. It’s just one of those things that were lost.

2:31

“David Moyes’s reaction would not be a signal to the umpires, who are focusing on matters on the field. But instead of prioritizing offside and then moving up the chain, be adaptable. The main concern was not the offside, it was if that ball could be out of play, and that’s the learning point of that situation. “

21:16

West Brom 1-5 Crystal Palace

INCIDENT: Referee Paul Tierney overturns his original decision to award Matheus Pereira a yellow card with a direct red card after consulting the pitch monitor and seeing that West Brom midfielder had lashed out at Crystal Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt.

VERDICT: “When I watched the game, I didn’t know what the referees were looking at. But when I saw the incident and the referee went to the screen, I knew it was going to be a red card.

“People ask if it was enough, but the argument would be why do you need to put your boot there? What’s the point of putting the boot there? You are doing it for some reason, and the reason is not balancing or getting off the ground. It is pushing his boot toward an opponent, and on that basis, it’s a red card. It’s inevitable. “

Liverpool 4-0 Wolves

INCIDENT: Referee Craig Pawson reversed his decision to impose a penalty on the Wolves after he was instructed to consult the pitch monitor and ruled that Sadio Mane had retired from a challenge to Conor Coady before the Wolves captain left. sink into the area.

2:59

VERDICT: “Approved by the VAR, absolutely. When you watch the replay, Mane clearly takes off his boot before Coady goes to the ground. The referee gets an alert to go to the screen, sees what we have all seen and cancels it with all reason.

“It’s definitely not a penalty, but without the VAR it would have happened. This is a real advantage for the VAR because this is what we are talking about.”

Chelsea 3-1 Leeds

INCIDENT: Ben Chilwell challenges Leeds winger Ian Poveda in the box and makes contact with the man and not the ball. Poveda remains on his feet, but the phase comes to nothing when Edouard Mendy saves the gentle effort of the winger. The VAR did not intervene and Kevin Friend’s decision not to punish the challenge stood.

VERDICT: “If Poveda falls, the referee has to make a different decision, there is no doubt about that. I have said in the past that referees must be aware that a foul can be committed even if a player remains standing.

“What I would say is that the VAR did well to stay on the sidelines because it is not there to decide if the referee made something wrong, it is there to judge whether a player, coach, coach or spectator in unison would say that something is definitely wrong, a clear and obvious mistake.

“I would say that on that basis, this decision should be left to the referee on the field. It is a very different decision when a player stops, and that’s why players say they go to the ground. We’ve talked about it for years and year.

“We never know, the referee could have made the same decision if Poveda had fallen, but according to the evidence from what I saw on Saturday and the protocol I read, the VAR had no right to intervene.