Former referee Dermot Gallagher has admitted Kevin’s challenge on Bukayo Saka may well have deserved a penalty, despite the VAR decision to overturn the foul.
Bukayo Saka was initially awarded a penalty during Arsenal’s match against Fulham at the weekend, after a risky challenge from Fulham winger Kevin.
Referee Anthony Taylor had seen the foul in real time, pointing to the spot. But the VAR Stuart Attwell recommended a review because Kevin got a touch on the ball, and Taylor overturned his decision after seeing it for himself.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Dermot Gallagher admitted that was a “polarising” call, suggesting Saka may well have deserved a penalty for knee-on-knee contact before the ball was played.
“I think this will polarise people, and the reason I say that is that the referee gives a penalty on the field as he thinks he’s tripped him,” Gallagher began.
“If you look, Kevin actually catches him knee-on-knee as well, so it may well be a penalty for that.
“The interesting thing is, people say they want ex-players as VAR and four pundits that were covering the game with me on Saturday – all ex-England internationals with 122 caps between them – and the vote was 2-2.”
There certainly has been plenty of debate about whether or not penalties should be awarded in cases like this, and Gallagher’s claims of a split vote among former players reflects that.
But a split vote means the incident was not clear and obvious. It did not meet the criteria for a VAR overturn, and the on-field decision should have stood.
Gallagher does accept that Saka may have deserved a penalty regardless of VAR’s role, but the winger certainly shouldn’t have seen the spot-kick reviewed and overturned.
With the clear evidence that Kevin went through the Arsenal man to get to the ball, the incident certainly did not fit the requirements for an overturn.