Dermot Gallagher shares verdict on Lucas Paqueta incident from West Ham United draw v Aston Villa
Former FIFA referee Dermot Gallagher has shared his verdict on the penalty that Lucas Paqueta won in the West Ham United draw against Aston Villa on Sunday, 12 March.
The Hammers picked up another point in their fight against Premier League relegation thanks to Said Benrahma’s first-half goal from 12 yards out, which cancelled out Ollie Watkins’ early opener at the London Stadium.
When reviewing the incident for Sky Sports Ref Watch (13 March, 12:24pm), Gallagher admitted the penalty wasn’t awarded for the soft-looking upper-body contact between Leon Bailey and Paqueta in the box, but instead the brushing of legs between the two players.
“I think this was actually given for the clumsiness of his lower body rather than his upper body,” he said.
“People said ‘it was the softest push you’ll see’, but they tangle at the bottom as well. It was the lower body challenge that was penalised.”
Clumsy
As soon as Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot to award the Irons a penalty, it was never going to be overturned by VAR.
The contact between the two players was minimal, but it was still clumsy and stopped Paqueta from getting to the ball. If no penalty had been awarded, it would have been a tighter decision to call, but overall the penalty was probably deserved.
Although Paqueta won the penalty in the first half, he struggled to influence the game as much as he would have liked from his advanced midfield position.
The Brazilian’s frustrations were plain for all to see when he was subbed off for Pablo Fornals and walked straight down the tunnel instead of staying out to watch his team fight for three points in the closing stages.
If the 25-year-old isn’t careful, he might find himself in a similar situation to West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca, who has been frozen out by Moyes and is now struggling to even feature on the pitch.