Former Premier League Dermot Gallagher believes that Tottenham were fortunate not to concede a penalty in the London derby against Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.
Spurs summer signing Paulo Gazzaniga made his first Premier League start for his new club between the sticks and he was involved in an incident with Palace winger Bakary Sako in the first-half.
Palace forward Wilfried Zaha delivered a cross into the box and the Tottenham goalkeeper rushed out and he missed the ball completely but he appeared to make contact with the oncoming Palace man.
Matchday referee Kevin Friend refused to point to the spot and it was decision that eventually cost the visitors as Mauricio Pochettino’s men sealed all three points with a 1-0 win, thank to a fine strike from Heung-Min Son.
Speaking on the Sky Sports News Monday morning show Sky Sports Daily (November 6, 11am), Gallagher revealed that the official should have awarded a penalty to Palace.
“I think the referee is well within his rights to give the penalty,” he said as quoted on the Sky Sports website.
“This is a challenge we saw yesterday with Courtois and Rashford on Sunday – the goalkeeper tries to make himself big to block the ball.
“It’s not an outfield player – we see a goalkeeper come out and try and block the ball, very much like Peter Schmeichel did.
“It might be an area of the game we need to work harder on.”
OPINION
We agree with Gallagher that a penalty should have been awarded to the visitors but it is completely understandable to see why he didn’t point to the spot. The Palace players did not appeared to be too incensed when the incident occurred but on reflection, there was contact between the two players which should have result in a penalty kick. It wasn’t a clear cut decision for the officials on the day and they shouldn’t be criticised for their performance based on that one decision. Pochettino will be delighted that it wasn’t awarded as it helped his side pick up a valuable win in their pursuit to stay in the title race.