A prominent former referee has stated that awarding Burnley another penalty during their agonizing defeat to West Ham would have been the “easiest” decision.
Luca Koleosho was clipped inside the box by Hammers defender Vladimir Coufal during the first half of the Clarets’ 2-1 loss at Turf Moor on Saturday.
At the opening of the second half, referee Samuel Barrott did award a penalty to Vincent Kompany’s side. Koloesho was involved once more, this time by Mohammed Kudus.
Dermot Gallagher, a former referee, examined the two events on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch and suggested that the first one, the one not granted, was similar to the penalty awarded to Manchester United in their 3-0 win against Everton.
Similarly to Burnley, when Anthony Martial was taken down by Ashley Young, the on-field decision was delivered against United, but VAR intervened to overturn it.
On the Burnley call, Gallagher said: “I wonder if when the referee looks back he may think the other way round.
“For me, [with the first penalty incident] I think the easiest and most palatable decision there is certainly penalty.
“It is not too dissimilar to the Young one on Martial, he has dangled his leg, he goes over it, but the referee did not think penalty and the VAR sided with him. I think the VAR felt the Burnley player had initiated the contact.
“As for the second penalty decision [the one that was given], I think there is minimal contact, I just do not think that is a penalty – I think they have got them the wrong way round.”
Leave a Reply