Leeds United were rightfully denied a penalty in their heavy Premier League defeat at the weekend, according to Dermot Gallagher.
The former referee was speaking on Sky Sports News’ Ref Watch segment to dissect this weekend’s VAR controversies, and stuck up for the decision made in west London.
It was a weekend to forget for Jesse Marsch and his side as they were sent back to West Yorkshire after a thumping from Thomas Frank’s Bees.
However, there were strong appeals from the Whites for a penalty in the second half of the game after Crysencio Summerville was pulled and tripped inside the box.
Referee Robert Jones came to the decision there was not enough in the incident to award Leeds with a penalty and Gallagher has agreed with the decision, with the contact perhaps not breaching the so-called ‘threshold’.
He said: “I think what happened here, the shirt pull, the referee doesn’t see; the VAR can’t act. As he’s going into the box, he lets go of the shirt. And I think we come back to what the threshold is.
“This is the dilemma we’ve had today when we’re talking about it – if he’d have pulled the shirt like he did going into the box, I think without doubt, penalty.
“Because he lets go of the shirt and that’s what he’s seen, as you say, a little tug at the top, there’s a clip of the heel there, has he clipped him or is he going forward? That’s what’s the element of doubt.
“And I think at that point, they just said, well, the first one, yes, but he can’t give it because he’s outside [the box]. The second one maybe but we can’t give a maybe, didn’t hit the threshold so they played on.”
TIF Thoughts on Gallagher’s comments…
We simply cannot believe this was not given as a Leeds penalty and we actually think it is one of the worst decisions made over the weekend across the Premier League.
Do you agree with Gallagher's verdict?
Yes
No
There was clear contact both inside and outside of the box so we are not sure how Jones has missed the incident altogether.
But for VAR not to intervene and award Leeds with the spot kick is hard to comprehend with clear footage of the Leeds youngster being impeded by the Brentford man.
Despite taking such a beating on the scoreline, the Whites fared pretty well when looking at the stats, however, you need moments like this to go in your favour when chasing a game.