According to Mike Dean, Jobe Bellingham’s disallowed goal in the first half of West Brom’s 2-1 triumph was “definitely a wrong decision” that would have been “100%” overturned by VAR.
After Gary Beswick raised his flag to rule out the Black Cats’ goal after Alex Palmer mishandled an Adil Aouchiche shot into his goalmouth after 15 minutes, the former Premier League referee responded live on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday (9 December).
Dean said it was a “shame” as a “good” goal was pulled back for offside against Patrick Roberts, who was not interfering with play and Cedric Kipre was playing the scorer onside.
Dean said (12.54pm): “It’s definitely a wrong decision. He’s onside by at least a yard to be fair. There’s a few things that happened after the initial decision but you can clearly see there he’s a good yard onside.
“The keeper saves it, comes back out to Bellingham, puts in the back of the net and that’s just a goal.
“VAR would have overturned it 100%.”
“How’s the assistant not seen that?” asked Simon Thomas.
“Well he has seen it but he’s seen the wrong thing,” replied Dean. “He’s just made the wrong decision, Gary Beswick.
“It’s just a shame because it’s a good goal, good build-up and should have been a goal, 100%.”
Escape
Throughout the first half, West Brom looked the most dangerous, with Grady Diangana in particular looking menacing.
Palmer’s blushes were spared when his error almost undid the hard work done farther down the pitch.
A game against a team who has just fired their manager is always difficult to predict since the response to the departure may go either way, but Sunderland remained a difficult prospect on Saturday.
Officiating at all levels continues to irritate supporters, and while VAR is generally at the center of the complaints, this was a clear example of why it was brought in.
West Brom were saved by the fact that it is not in use in the second tier and went into the break with the score at 0-0.
At the same time, a video assistant would almost certainly have interfered in favor of the Baggies on the foul that saw Josh Maja hobble off from his first start for the club following a harsh challenge from Dan Ballard, so both sides arguably escaped.
Ballard, of course, then opened the score in the second half as Sunderland went on to win 2-1.
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