JUST IN – Formal Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher explains James Maddison and Ryan Yates incident after a freshly released footage amid Espirito Santo’s protest on VAR [Full story link in comment]
Tottenham’s James Maddison wouldn’t have ‘a leg to stand on’ had VAR intervened in his controvertial clash with Notingham Forest’s Ryan Yates – meaning the Spurs stars would have been suspended for this weekend’s game against Newcastle United.
England forward Maddison appeared to striker Forest midfielder Yates in the first half of Sunday’s Premier League game against Nottingham Forest. But while referee Simon Hooper didn’t see the off-the-ball incident, VAR decided not to advise him to watch a replay, meaning the incident went unpunished.
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has explained why VAR decided not to intervene, but admitted Maddison was ‘really lucky’ to escape action, meaning he is free to face Eddie Howe’s Magpies on Saturday.
“This was really interesting because it got flagged by VAR,” he told Sky Sports’ Ref Watch. “I listened to the VAR. Maddison had already got a yellow card and I thought it would be a very interesting decision. The VAR came to the decision, and I quote, ‘no evidence of violent conduct’. That’s his choice.
“What I will say is, the referee has to be guided by VAR because he doesn’t see it. VAR doesn’t send him to the screen so he doesn’t see the incident again. If he did, who knows what decision he would make?
“I think Maddison is really lucky. If you do that on a football field and you get sent off, you haven’t got a leg to stand on. The referee hasn’t had a chance to look at it because of the VAR protocol. It hasn’t met the threshold.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane took a different view of the incident, telling Yates that he needed to ‘toughen up’
“I worked with Yates at Forest, really nice kid, but every week somebody touches him he goes down,” Keane told Sky Sports. “He goes down far too easily. For such a decent lad he needs to cut that out of his game.”
Meanwhile, Newcastle fans may not be in agreement with Gallagher over his verdict on Fabian Schar’s disallowed goal against Fulham. The Magpies defender thought he had given United the lead, only for VAR to advise referee Sam Allison to check for a foul by Dan Burn in the build-up. The goal was overturned when Burn was adjudged to have prevented Fulham defender Calvin Bassey, although many felt it was harsh in the extreme.
“Good intervention by VAR,” was Gallagher’s assessment. “At the time I thought it was a foul on Bassey. and I still do. He has both arms in the back. He pushes him, he gets above him and stops him from heading the ball. Foul for me.”
