Dermot Gallagher baffled live on Sky Sports by incident in West Ham United win v Burnley
Dermot Gallagher was baffled by the decision to not award Burnley a penalty in the first half against West Ham on Saturday (25 November).
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch on Monday (27 November), the former Premier League referee said it was “certainly a penalty” after Hammers defender Vladimir Coufal was judged to not have brought down Luca Kopleosho inside the box.
He believes the VAR probably felt the Clarets winger had initiated the contact with the Czech international as the Irons claimed a 2-1 victory following a late winner from Tomas Soucek at Turf Moor.
“I wonder if when the referee looks back he may think the other way round,” said Gallagher. “For me, I think the easiest and most palatable decision there is certainly a penalty.
“It is not too dissimilar to the Young one on Martial, he has dangled his leg, he goes over it, but the referee did not think penalty and the VAR sided with him. I think the VAR felt the Burnley player had initiated the contact.”
Clear and obvious error
It comes down to whether or not the VAR can really say it was a clear and obvious error by the referee to not hand Burnley a penalty.
It was clumsy from Coufal, but Kopleosho did look to ensure the contact was made with the defender in order to win a spot-kick.
It’s one of those decisions where you would be disappointed not to be given it and the best solution would have probably been for the referee to take another look at it himself.
Either way, the Clarets were actually handed a penalty in the second half for a soft foul by Mohammed Kudus, so that evened things up to give the hosts the lead.
Fortunately, a late comeback earned the Hammers what was probably an undeserved victory, but we’ll take the three points and look to improve moving forward.
In other West Ham news, the club are in the hunt to sign an “outstanding” Euro star.