Dermot Gallagher shares verdict on West Ham United controversy v Southampton live on Sky Sports
Dermot Gallagher has admitted he doesn’t care that the VAR took over three and a half minutes to decide whether West Ham United defender Nayef Aguerd’s goal against Southampton was offside or not.
The Moroccan’s winning goal in the gritty 1-0 win at the London Stadium (Sunday, 2 April) was initially ruled offside by the linesman before a lengthy VAR review overturned the decision.
Speaking live on Sky Sports Ref Watch (Monday 3 April, 12:32pm), ex-FIFA referee Gallagher admitted Peter Bankes ultimately made the correct decision, and he was glad that the VAR took their time to wade through the host of bodies in the penalty box and find the correct offside line.
“We all say we don’t care how long it takes as long as we get it right,” he said.
“I refer you back to the Arsenal v Brentford game where the correct decision to disallow Brentford’s equaliser would have been reached had another 15 seconds been taken to spot a clear offside.
“This was a difficult decision, there were players in the way. Peter Bankes took his time, three minutes and 29 seconds, to be precise.
“But it was correct, and goal was given. It was a massive decision because on the pitch it was disallowed for offside.”
Correct decision
As Dermot mentioned, the fact that the right decision was made is far more important than a three-minute pause in play.
Looking back, there was much frustration at the amount of time over the VAR check, but the Hammers have already had their fair share of controversial decisions this season, and it was pleasing to see David Moyes’ side come out on the right side of one this time.
The decision was made much trickier by the fact that Aguerd was originally offside before the free-kick was struck, before coming back onside and timing his run to perfection.
Add into the mix the host of bodies in and around the West Ham United defender, and you can understand exactly why so much time was spent on the decision.
Thankfully, Peter Bankes made the correct call in the end and the header ended up being the decisive factor in the relegation showdown against the Saints.