Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has weighed in on the controversial VAR decision that saw Manchester United awarded a free-kick instead of a penalty against Fulham
Casemiro scored from the resulting free-kick after Manchester United were denied a penalty(Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has offered his verdict on the controversial incident surrounding Manchester United’s opening goal against Fulham. Whites manager Marco Silva criticised what he believed was an extraordinary VAR ruling to grant United a free-kick that led to their first goal during his team’s 3-2 loss at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
Referee John Brooks originally pointed to the penalty spot after Matheus Cunha went to ground following Jorge Cuenca’s challenge. Replays revealed Cuenca had won the ball cleanly, but rather than completely reversing the decision, VAR suggested United should receive a free-kick on the touchline.
The reason was that Brooks had awarded the penalty for a tug that occurred outside the area. Casemiro nodded home from the subsequent free-kick to break the deadlock.
Silva believed the video assistant had effectively re-officiated the match, but Gallagher said: “Straight away, I knew it wasn’t a penalty.
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“The trajectory of the ball told me everything. There’s no doubt he lets go of the shirt before they enter the penalty area. It’s factually outside, so they gave a free-kick.”
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Speaking alongside Gallagher on Sky Sports‘ Ref Watch, former Premier League midfielder Jamie O’Hara commented: “It’s a mess. The referee is not looking at the shirt pull. The referee blows up for the tackle, not for the shirt pull. I’d love to see what the audio is saying.
“They decide it’s not a penalty, so then it should be a drop ball for Fulham, but they go back to try and get themselves out of jail.
“The referee makes the decision on the tackle, not the shirt pull. The problem they’ve got is they go back and give the shirt pull, which is outside the area and then they score from the free-kick.”
Marco Silva was furious with the officials after Fulham’s defeat to Manchester United(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Speaking after the match at Old Trafford, Silva said: “The penalty was given – it was a bad, bad, bad decision from John Brooks.
“The penalty was given for the tackle of Cuenca, that was clear. Then after they found the pull three, four seconds before.
“The ball went for a corner. The feedback we got on the touchline was that after the review John Brooks was going to go to the screen because in VAR’s opinion it was not a penalty and that after that comes a completely different decision, they give a free-kick for a pull.
“It’s the first time this season that a penalty has been given for one incident and then a VAR decision comes from a completely different incident and gave a free-kick. It’s the first time we have seen that this season, last season, but maybe it comes more in the future.”
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