Ref Watch: Was Casemiro lucky to escape a second yellow card at Luton?

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher dissects the flashpoints from the weekend’s football.

Luton 1-2 Manchester United

Incident: Man Utd’s Casemiro avoided a second yellow card for a lunge on Luton’s Ross Barkley.

Dermot says: “The yellow was for an accumulation; that was his fourth foul. With the next tackle, A I didn’t think that was a yellow card and B, going back to what I said, the yellow was for four fouls. This is the first foul after it, so it’s a matter for the referee and how he’s totting it up.

“He’s obviously said to Casemiro after the third foul that he’s going to book him for the next one, which he did. When that next tackle occurs and all the Luton players are angry, I think he should hook Casemiro out and tell him where he’s going to be if he continues like that.”

Sheffield United 0-5 Brighton

Incident: The VAR advised Stuart Attwell to upgrade his initial yellow card to a red for Mason Holgate’s horror tackle on Kaoru Mitoma.

Dermot says: “The only positive thing I can say about this is that VAR Michael Oliver was brilliant because he looked at it immediately, said to the referee very quickly that it was a really dangerous tackle and he needed to go to the screen to look at it. We all know it’s a red card. VAR dealt with it very quickly, so it was done and dusted.”

Incident: James McAtee pushes Mitoma in the back with two hands in the box, but no penalty was awarded.

Dermot says: “This is running a massive risk. If the referee gives it on the pitch, the VAR is not going to overturn it. The referee didn’t give it on the pitch, so the VAR didn’t think there was enough in it. What they do is they relay back what they’ve seen and the VAR decides if it correlates with the pictures.”

Newcastle 2-2 Bournemouth

Incident: Referee Michael Salisbury was advised to review Adam Smith’s challenge on Fabian Schar inside the penalty area and, after a lengthy spell at the pitchside monitor, pointed to the spot, despite suspicions of offside in the build-up.

Dermot says: “Is it a shirt pull and should it result in a penalty? Yes. Is he in an offside position? Does he impact?
The feedback I got is he does not impact; the offence has occurred long before the ball has come. He is in an offside position, but he has not committed an offside offence yet because the ball has not got to him and therefore the penalty was given.

“The on-field decision was offside, the VAR looked and decided it should be a penalty. We cannot argue there is a shirt pull, he then decided it was not an offside offence because the ball was so far from the player it had no impact on that player being in an offside position.”

Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea

Incident: Man City were not awarded a penalty despite an apparent handball by Chelsea defender Levi Colwill.

Dermot says: “The wiser decision here was not handball. What happened last week we all agreed was wrong, so we cannot keep being wrong. I do not think that is a penalty as the player does not have a chance to get out the way. People have looked at last week and decided that is not acceptable and I give credit to people who say, ‘hang on, that is not the best place to be’.”

Incident: Should Moises Caicedo have been sent off for challenge on Jeremy Doku?

Dermot says: “The referee is unlucky here as he is too close and so cannot get a proper view. For me, it is a yellow card, but the VAR cannot intervene, but he is lucky, he should not be doing that. Sometimes when you are a referee and you are right on top of things, you do not actually see things like that because you do not look down.”

Incident: Man City were also not awarded a penalty when Kyle Walker and Raheem Sterling came together in the box, with referee Andy Madley instead awarding Chelsea a free-kick.

Dermot says: “I actually think Walker trips Sterling, rather than the other way round. He comes across and puts his leg across him and brings him down and the referee got it absolutely spot on.”

Brentford 1-4 Liverpool

Incident: Brentford were not awarded a penalty despite Liverpool’s Andy Robertson barging over Ivan Toney in the box.

Dermot says: “It is a foul. Toney holds his ground, he has the ball in front of him. Sometimes as a defender, you cannot make a challenge, you have to hold off, he cannot win that ball. If he was side-by-side, I could understand it. He is not, his shoulder barges into his back and I think it is a penalty.

“The VAR feels it is not a clear and obvious error – he may well think it is a penalty, but he does not think it is enough to overrule the referee.”

Nottingham Forest 2-0 West Ham

Incident: West Ham’s Maxwel Cornet chased down Forest’s Neco Williams into the box and sent him tumbling to the deck after treading on his heel, but no penalty was awarded.

Dermot says: “I thought it was a penalty because he catches him across the back of the ankle, treads on his heel and brings him down. The speed he’s moving at is going to bring him down. All I can say is that they obviously thought it didn’t meet the threshold but, for me, it’s a penalty.”

Incident: West Ham’s Kalvin Phillips picked up two yellow cards inside three minutes and was sent off.

Dermot says: “He got the yellow for adopting an aggressive attitude. When you’re on a yellow card, why do you make this tackle? He’s given the referee a decision to make and he knows it.”

‘I don’t see what Clattenburg can do as Forest’s ref analyst’

Gallagher also spoke about Nottingham Forest‘s decision to appoint fellow former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg as the club’s referee analyst.

“I don’t know what he’s going to do, to be honest. They have obviously got some role for him,” he said.

“It’s like Saturday’s decision with Morgan Gibbs-White; if he feels that’s a penalty and he tells the players it’s a penalty, what can that achieve? Most of the players will think it’s a penalty already, so they don’t need him to confirm it.

“Unless he’s going to talk to them about how they discipline themselves on the field and avoid yellow cards for technical things and suchlike, I don’t really see what else he can do.

“Howard Webb has been very transparent. The clubs have his number, he speaks to them regularly. It may well be that it’s an avenue (for him to be a go-between between the clubs and the PGMOL).”

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