Ref Watch: Should Arsenal have had a penalty at Burnley? Dermot Gallagher offers his assessment | Football news

In the latest edition of Watch ref, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher assesses key incidents from the weekend’s games, including a controversial handball decision in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Burnley.

Burnley 1-1 Arsenal

INCIDENT: Arsenal felt they should have received a penalty when Erik Pieters, who was outstretched, appeared to have driven into the box, but the VAR did not consider it a clear and obvious mistake.

DERMOT’S VERDICT: Decision made on proximity, but Pieters lucky.

DERMOT SAYS: “I think they left because of the proximity. You can see how close the player is.

“We saw N’Golo Kante on Thursday night at Liverpool vs Chelsea. The arm was raised, the arm was extended, but they said it was too close. I think they followed the same premise here.

“What I would say is that Pieters is at a huge risk because we all know that if you extend your arm like that, it is very likely that they will give a penalty. If the penalty is taken, I don’t think he can have too many.” complaints.

“The confusion is because it is subjective. You are asking 18 different people in the Premier League to make a decision about something that they see with the different directives. Is it close? Has it slipped out of the body? Are your arms in unnatural form? What is an unnatural position?

“Going into next season, we will still have problems because it will remain a subjective decision. There is no hard and fast way to say, yes, that is a penalty or that is not a penalty. It really falls to the individual on the day. “

INCIDENT: More drama came when Andre Marriner pointed to where Pepe’s volley hit Pieters and flew over the crossbar. Pieters was initially shown a red card, but it was overruled by VAR official Kevin Friend with replays showing the ball hitting Burnley’s man on the shoulder.

DERMOT’S VERDICT: Right decision.

DERMOT SAYS: “Pieters wouldn’t have cared at all. He knew exactly where the ball had hit him and he knew the VAR would identify him.”

“I can see why Andre Marriner felt like he had handled the ball over the bar and if he did, it will be a penalty and a red card. However, once it is thrown at VAR, you can clearly see that he hit it in the shoulder. Marriner is recommended, no penalty and no red card. “

INCIDENT: Burnley thought they should have had their own penalty when Matej Vydra fell in the penalty area to a challenge from Bukayo Saka.

DERMOT’S VERDICT: No penalty, correct decision.

DERMOT SAYS: “I think Saka touches the ball and Vydra kicks her ankle. That’s where she has the aerial shot and she loses her balance.”

INCIDENT: Alexandre Lacazette could be heard screaming loudly in pain in the second half as he fell under a harmless challenge from Pieters.

DERMOT’S VERDICT: Referee with your eyes and not with your ears!

DERMOT SAYS: “We were talking earlier in the season about the empty grounds and how it affects the referee, you should be careful not to listen too much and that is a classic case. You should ignore what you hear and focus on what you have seen because what you have seen is reality and what you have heard, there is no way that it hurts so much. It is impossible. “

Manchester City 0-2 Manchester United

INCIDENT: Referee Anthony Taylor awarded Manchester United a penalty after just 34 seconds after Gabriel Jesus’ awkward tackle on Anthony Martial.

DERMOT’S VERDICT: Right decision.

DERMOT SAYS: “Anthony Taylor was excellent on Sunday. This decision shows why he is not only referee of the highest level in England, but of the highest level in Europe and the world because he has been playing for 30 seconds, it is a huge game and he has made a huge decision. and I did well.

“But the two things are, his positioning and he was focused from the beginning. His positioning was fantastic, and he made the decision, went through his mind and made it positive. If you look at his body language, his body movement, it’s so positive. What it does is spread everything. “

Brighton 1-2 Leicester

INCIDENT: Leicester felt they should have had a penalty after Lewis Dunk slid past Jamie Vardy in the box, but referee Michael Oliver and the VAR saw a touch from Dunk on the ball during the inning.

DERMOT’S VERDICT: Penalty fee.

DERMOT SAYS: “I actually thought this was a penalty. A lot of people have told me it’s not, but I think Vardy plays the ball when Dunk slides and catches Vardy. I can understand that the referee doesn’t know where he is but when he was. VAR, they didn’t think it was a clear and obvious mistake. For me, I did think it was a penalty. “

Sheffield United 0-2 Southampton

INCIDENT: Ethan Ampadu dropped Nathan Tella in the penalty area as he went through the goal. A penalty was awarded and Ampadu was shown a yellow card.

DERMOT’S VERDICT: Right decision.

DERMOT SAYS: “It’s a penalty and a correct yellow card, not a red one because Ampadu slides to go and win the ball. He makes a genuine attempt but he doesn’t get the ball like that, yellow card and not red for the double. Danger rule in the area criminal “.

And finally…

Accidental handball that results in a scoring opportunity or a goal for a teammate will no longer be penalized next season. Do you want to see a change in the handball law also for the defending team and do you welcome this change?

DERMOT’S VERDICT: “The fact that Fulham’s goal that was disallowed on Thursday is not disallowed now is a huge step forward because there is no way Mario Lemina could have gotten out of the way of the ball. He was hit from so close. As we know, no It would have been a penalty if it had been a defender so it levels the playing field a lot.

“Regarding the defender, you just have to look at the Pieters before, it would still be a subjective decision. There will still be people who decide ‘penalty’ and there will still be people who decide no.”

“The referee will have to make that decision that day, but the fact that they have adjusted the parameters in that way is a big step forward.

“It’s not new. When I was refereeing, there were certain things that I didn’t have a choice about. I may not like it, but there were rules that I had to apply. It’s like referees now. There are certain things that they don’t like, but they are powerless. .

“One of the things they had no power in was the Lemina incident on Thursday night. The law is pretty clear that if the ball hits his arm, it bounces back to Josh Maja, which he did and he scores, he should. be overridden.

“Now, I would suggest that everyone in the country would say that it was very, very harsh, even unfair, but unfortunately, the referee is the only person who has no choice in that. He has to apply that law.”

The FA would welcome discussions on the possible transmission of the referees’ audio to “demystify” the decision process. As a referee, what do you think? Something good or bad?

DERMOT’S VERDICT: “Certainly it is being talked about at the moment and if it will come, I don’t know. If it comes, it comes and the referees will have to accept it.”

“What I would say is, if it comes, it is very similar to everything that has changed since I refereed, we have bell flags, we have headphones and VAR. What happens is that you learn to grow with that. That is part of your game. It was not part of my game because the VAR did not exist, the headphones were coming when I finished.

“That may have been a problem for me, but when you’re starting and you get into that point, it’s just an integral part of your daily game.

“If it is after the game and in the highlights, I don’t know how it will be published. If it is live, it is totally different because you would hear the communication as we do in rugby games where you hear the referees almost training players through a game sometimes.

“Sometimes with no crowds at the moment, sometimes you can hear the attendees talking to the players near the touchline, being proactive, but if it went live, you would definitely hear all of that and if it came out -match, would you really? Do you want to hear that? You just want to hear what is important for decisions. “