Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has given his take on VAR denying Tammy Abraham a dream second debut for Aston Villa
Tammy Abraham of Aston Villa(Image: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock)
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has said he is “astonished” by the controversy surrounding Tammy Abraham’s disallowed goal against Brentford.
The striker thought he had marked his second debut for the club perfectly, scoring against the Bees to level the game at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon.
However, VAR ruled the goal out after Leon Bailey, 19 seconds earlier, struggled to keep the ball in play.
Villa supporters were furious after the match, as the footage provided to VAR did not appear to show conclusive evidence that the ball had gone out.
This was one of the main complaints from fans, alongside concerns over the length of the ‘attacking possession phase.’
Abraham had also scored following a save from Caoimhin Kelleher, who had denied Jadon Sancho, before the Villa striker followed up to score.
Gallagher, however, said he did not understand why disallowing the goal was considered controversial by some.
“I’m astonished that people think this is controversial, for two reasons,” he said on Sky Sports. “The ball is 100 per cent out, so it’s gone out for a throw-in.
“You can’t argue about the 19 seconds [between ball out of play and the goal] because they [Brentford] never had a chance to get that ball back because of their original setup for the high press. I don’t see what the controversy is.”
Jamie O’Hara then added: “It’s the same phase of play. Brentford don’t have the opportunity to recover.”
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