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Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes Brighton forward Diego Gomez should have been sent off against Liverpool for what he deemed to be a “dangerous” challenge on Florian Wirtz.
Gomez was shown a yellow card by referee Craig Pawson after he caught Wirtz on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area with a high boot during the first half of the Reds’ 2-0 win on Saturday.
The incident was reviewed by VAR, but despite replays showing Gomez making contact with WIrtz’s midriff with his studs, Darren England chose to uphold Pawson’s original decision, with the Premier League explaining that the challenge was “deemed not to be with excessive force and not serious foul play.”
That explanation has not been backed up by some of the game’s former officials though, with Keith Hackett among those to suggest that Gomez should have been shown a red card.
Gallagher is the latest to claim that Pawson and England got the decision wrong, insisting that Gomez would have had no defense if he had been sent off.
“I’m in the 76 per cent camp, I think it’s a red card,” Gallagher said while reviewing the incident on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch.
“I thought it was a red card on Saturday, I haven’t seen anything to change my mind.
“The ball was the clue for me, look where the ball is. He’s got no chance of winning the ball, he goes in, high boot, he goes in dangerously there.
“The only defense he could have is ‘I’ve gone for the ball’, and he can’t. The ball’s not there.”
Fellow guest Jay Bothroyd was left dumbfounded by the decision, and questioned how Pawson could have come to his initial decision of a yellow card.
“I’m going to go back to this, Craig Pawson is right there,” Bothroyd said. “The angle is great as well because he’s actually looking from an angle where he can see the player’s studs, and he can see Wirtz’s chest, he can see that he hasn’t won the ball.
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“His view is absolutely perfect, the ball’s gone, he’s caught him in the chest. I don’t understand how the referee and VAR have come to the decision that that’s a yellow card.
“That is just ridiculous to me, and again, it’s an interpretation, and I do ask the question. I don’t know if any of these referees here have actually played the game at any level, but if they have, then they would know that that is a red card challenge, it’s as simple as that.”
English (US) ·