Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has given a very interesting take on the penalty Tottenham were denied against Leeds when James Maddison went down.
The Spurs players were furious when referee Jarred Gillett did not blow for a foul when James Maddison went down in the box under the challenge of Felix Nmecha, with VAR deciding not to intervene.
Some experts concluded that Nmecha did get a touch on the ball, although that was not conclusive from the angles shown during the live broadcast.
Since then, Maddsion has claimed that it was he who got a touch on the ball rather than Nmecha, and subsequently, a new camera angle seems to prove him right, showing that the Leeds man failed to get a touch on the ball.
Dermot Gallagher claims it was a certain penalty for Tottenham if Felix Nmecha did not touch the ball
It appears that Dermot Gallagher may not have seen the new angle of the tackle, with the former Premier League referee suggesting that the German forward did touch the ball.
However, the former Premier League referee asserted that it was a stonewall penalty if he had not done so.
Gallagher told talkSPORT about the incident: “My first thought when I saw it was ‘blimey, they’ve got a penalty’. You were 13 minutes into stoppage time.
“When you see the replay, he does just catch the ball, there’s no doubt about that. But it’s one of them, he gets a bit lucky, because if he doesn’t get the ball it’s clearly a penalty.”
Gallagher says the referee was right to give Leeds a penalty
Leeds were awarded a penalty in the 74th minute when Mathys Tel attempted an overhead kick in the Tottenham box, only to catch Etham Ampadu.
Gallagher has said there is no doubt that it was the right decision, although he expressed surprise that Gillett needed the intervention of VAR to make the right call.
The former FIFA-listed official said: “I was surprised [Gillett needed VAR to intervene]. I often talk about clues, and the clue for me was the fact that the Leeds player, Ampadu, was actually jumping.”
“That will show you how high the player’s foot was. It hasn’t just caught him on the face. He caught him on the face from a jump. That’s a really high boot.”