Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has said that Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier should have seen red against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Having already been booked earlier in the game, referee Craig Pawson did not issue Dier a second yellow for a challenge into the back of Josh King, who was racing up the field in a counter attack.
Spurs eventually ended up with nine men after Son Heung-min was sent off for a push on Jefferson Lerma, before substitute Juan Foyth was given his marching orders only two minutes after coming on.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, however, Gallagher admitted that Pawson’s view of the tackle may have prevented him from giving Dier a second yellow.
“The dilemma here is that the referee can’t be sure,” the former referee said. “He knows if he gives foul, Dier then gets a second booking. He’s got to be convinced he hasn’t got the ball.
“We had to get the microscope out to see that it was King that got to the ball first. It’s such a difficult one. It should be a second yellow but from the referee’s point of view, it isn’t that simple.”
OPINION
Whether it was a red card or it wasn’t for Dier, Tottenham’s afternoon was miserable enough. Son’s outburst on Lerma was so out of character, something few would have expected from such a humble and quiet man. Juan Foyth’s red card was not up for debate either, and all in all Spurs did really well to get to the 90 minute mark without conceding. Dier could have been sent off on two occasions – for his tackle on King but also for a late altercation in his own penalty box in the first half. But as Gallagher points out, Pawson had to be certain that Dier did not get the ball on either occasion and if there is any doubt about it, he cannot give the second yellow. Some might say Dier was lucky to escape the red, but the referee cannot give a decision which he wasn’t certain about. Whether this performance – another away defeat for Mauricio Pochettino’s side – will affect them in Europe on Tuesday remains to be seen.