Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has weighed in on controversial moments from the weekend’s games, including Andy Robertson’s red card in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at home to Fulham.
Liverpool 2-2 Fulham
Incident: Liverpool defender Andy Robertson was shown a straight red card after bringing down Harry Wilson for denying a clear scoring opportunity.
Dermot says: “I had many opportunities to watch it again and I didn’t think it was a red card at the time and I still don’t think so now.
“Robertson doesn’t know he’s coming. He miscontrols the ball and Wilson kicks it. Is he controlling the ball? No. Is he going to control the ball? Very Doubtful, because the Liverpool player is going to do that.” Is he on target?
“Too many variables, ‘O’ [in DOGSO – Denying a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity] clearly represents an impossibility.
“Then (Raul) Jimenez took the shot and the whistle actually went off when (Virgil) van Dijk cleared the ball, so it added a lot of complications.
“If it had been a more favorable decision, it might have been a yellow card.
“If you’re going to give him a red card, you should blow the whistle, because once you whistle, you control the situation. If you think he’s got a red card, just blow the whistle.
“If the referee had blown his whistle right away, everyone would have accepted it.”
Wolves 1-2 Ipswich
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Dermot analyzes Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait Nouri’s post-match antics after Wolves’ home defeat to Ipswich
Incident: An angry Rayan Eyt-Nouri was shown a second yellow and dragged off the pitch after the full-time whistle against Molineux, while Wolves team-mate Matheus Cunha was dragged off the pitch after full-time. He was involved in an angry exchange with a member of Ipswich’s backroom team. The whistle of time.
Dermot says: “The picture speaks volumes, and Craig Dawson plays him.” [Ait-Nouri] He’s got a lot of goodwill because he’s so angry that it can escalate into almost anything.
“No doubt the FA will consider this.” [Cunha’s confrontation] this morning. He elbowed me in the back of the head and snatched my glasses, which is not the reaction you expect from a player.”
Man City 1-2 Man United
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Ref Watch has covered the collaboration between Manchester City defender Kyle Walker and Manchester United striker Rasmus Hjølund in detail, and was highly critical of Walker’s reaction when the two went head-to-head.
Incident: Manchester United striker Rasmus Hjølund and Manchester City defender Kyle Walker faced each other, but both players were suspended.
Dermot says: “That wasn’t good advertising for football, it shouldn’t have been done.” [going down like Walker did].
“What the referee thought was [Anthony Taylor] Good job he didn’t get caught up in the idea that it was something bigger than that.
So it was just a push. It was a player reacting to a push, but we don’t need that.”
Incident: Manchester United were denied a penalty despite Hodjlund falling under a challenge from Ruben Dias.
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Manchester United’s Ruben Dias challenges Hojlund and rejects penalty
Dermot says: “I still don’t think it’s a penalty, I really don’t think so.
“The defender went to play the ball and Hojland saw him coming and went over himself, but it looked even worse in slow motion.
“Khojland were happy to go down and I don’t think they were interested in chasing the ball.”
Chelsea 2-1 Brentford
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Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella had an eventful game against Brentford, earning him a full-time red card.
Incident: Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella was shown a second yellow card and sent off after the final whistle at Stamford Bridge.
Dermot says: “At the end of the game, everyone was pushing and shoving and Cucurella was in an aggressive position.
“He really should have known better because he just got a yellow card a minute ago.”
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Aston Villa
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Jamie Redknapp thinks Aston Villa’s Morgan Rodgers should have been given a penalty against Nottingham Forest
Incident: Aston Villa were denied a penalty after Elliott Anderson pulled Morgan Rodgers by the arm, which VAR ruled was a “splash grab”.
Dermot says: “I think it’s a foul. [by Rogers on Anderson before he enters the box] and he [Anderson] Then grab him as he goes into the box.
“I think in that case it would be a penalty, but in fairness I think the best outcome here would be for VAR to advise the referee to go to the monitor and keep all options open. would have seen Rodgers take the penalty.” [Anderson’s] You can take a free kick by taking off the shirt on your back. [to Forest].
“The end result is the same: no penalty, but people accept it better because it actually happened.”
Incident: Nottingham Forest’s winner against Aston Villa stands up despite a possible foul on Matty Cash during the build-up.
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Anthony Elanga scores Forest’s winning goal against Aston Villa despite a potential foul in Matty Cash’s build-up
Dermot says: “It depends on who you talk to, some people think it’s a foul, some people don’t. What I’m saying is you can’t re-referee a football match.
“The referee is in a good position and says it’s not a foul and the play continues and of course it’s not subject to VAR, but if he interferes with that then he’ll be monitoring everything that happens on the field.
“I don’t think it was a foul. I think he stole the ball. I don’t think it was an obvious mistake.”
