Dermot Gallagher: West Ham should have been awarded penalty v Burnley
West Ham United should have been awarded a penalty in their Premier League fixture against Burnley, according to former referee Dermot Gallagher.
The Hammers played out a dull 0-0 draw against Sean Dyche’s side at Turf Moor on Sunday afternoon (12 December).
In the first half, Craig Dawson appeared to be fouled in the box by Dwight McNeil but a spot kick was not given even after VAR had looked at the incident.
In his Ref Watch column for Sky Sports, Gallagher said that this was the wrong decision:
“This is all down to the VAR as Graham Scott could not give it as there was no way he could see through that crowd of players, so it gets thrown to the VAR [Jon Moss], who looks at it. I thought the VAR would give a penalty, but they felt it did not meet the threshold.
“He [McNeil] is very, very lucky a penalty is not given against him.”
Baffling
The level of debate that this refereeing decision has sparked despite the uninspiring nature of the rest of the game shows just how wrong Jon Moss got it.
David Moyes was not happy at all at a penalty not being awarded and rightly so, it is as blatant a penalty as you will see.
In real time it is not the easiest to spot – particularly from Graham Scott’s point of view – but how Moss has not even recommended that Scott should go over to look at a replay is baffling.
It is a horribly mistimed challenge from McNeil, who gets nowhere near the ball and takes out Dawson.
What is VAR there for if not to step in and make the right decision on incidents like these?
In other West Ham news, David Moyes has provided an injury update on one player ahead of the game against Arsenal.
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