Former Prime Minister League referee Dermot Gallagher assesses the controversial moments from the action of the weekend, including Spurs' Penalty Shouting in Fulham and a potentially handball in the Carabao Cup final.
Fulham 2-0 Tottenham
Incident: With Tottenham with 1-0 against Fulham, they had a great scream for a penalty. Lucas Bergvall went into the box after he was challenged by Calvin Bassey. Var said that Bergvall kicked in Bassey.
Dermot says: “When I saw the first angle, I didn't think it was a penalty. I thought Bergvall had gone the back of Bassey.
“But when I look at the second corner, Bassey is very lucky. Bergvall gets the ball, Bassey does not. You have to get the ball in that situation. In the second corner I think it's a fine.
“I heard the VAR, they felt that Bergvall had gone in the back Bassey, but Bergvall got the ball.
“I see that it is a penalty. What is interesting with the handball between Everton and Man City years ago, they concentrated so much on an angle that was not convincing. But there was one perspective.
“When I saw it live for the first time and the second corner, I was not convinced [this one was a penalty]. But when I saw the other corner, I can see that Bergvall gets the ball. And that is convincing.
“The first two corners, you can reject because they do not provide conclusive evidence.”
Incident: Spurs Defender Djed Spence clearly pushed Fulham's Raul Jimenez with two hands in the back, but no penalty was given.
Dermot says: “He puts two hands in the back, how much contact there is? I don't know.
“But is there enough contact for him to fly like that? I would like to introduce no. That didn't help his case. The referee said no, I don't think the VAR will ever go against him.
“Spence is lucky, because if you give a referee a choice to make, don't be disappointed if he goes against you. If the referee gives a fine there, Spence could not claim.”
Liverpool 1-2 Newcastle
Incident: There was a handball scream on Kieran Trippier in the penalty area in the Carabao Cup final. VAR checked the incident and continued to stick to the decision on the field without a fine.
Dermot says: “No handball for me. With regard to Europe, Newcastle knows everything about penalties in Europe that were eliminated last year [when Paris Saint-Germain were awarded a contentious penalty for handball].
“Trippier Rent, it's his current movement. It doesn't make any doubt. But that's all it does, it meets him.
“If you can't remember the incident at the end of the game, it tells the story.”
Stephen Warnock says: “It doesn't really stand out in my mind that would even be seen as a potential fine.”
Sue Smith says, “If that is given, it would have been so hard.”
Incident: Newcastle had a goal excluded just before their second goal. Alexander Isak scored, but his effort was excluded from a subjective offside against Bruno Guimaraes, who stood in the way of goalkeeper Cooimhin Kelleher.
Dermot says: “If you look sideways, Kelleher has to go around Guimaraes.
“I have a theory: if a player is so close to that keeper in the six-year area, he must be in the vision of the keeper. Kelleher has to go around him. By going around him, he loses all the view.
“He saves, but can he make a cleaner salvation? We will never know. But I think he is in his vision.”
Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea
Incident: The ball hit Marc Cucurella's arm in the box early in the game between Arsenal and Chelsea. The Spaniard thought he was polluted by Jurrien Timber, but the referee let it continue and Arsenal missed several opportunities from the same attack.
Dermot says: “Play on. It is high up, his arms have been put in. The attacker [Timber] Is a clue, he doesn't think it's handball, he is the nearest person.
“I don't think he's going with the ball. Very right to continue playing.”
Incident: Wesley Fofana challenged Declan Rice, followed by standing on rice while the Arsenal -midfielder was on the floor. The VAR said that this did not cross the threshold about violent behavior.
Dermot says: “Fofana was really whole, really happy during the game. It was not only this, he committed some violations.
“Ironically, he was later celebrated yellow in the game to postpone the restart.
“I don't think this was a red card, but it was a yellow card. And if he gets a yellow card, it can stop him by committing the number of errors and offenses afterwards.”
Incident: Arsenal -fans may wonder how Fofana stayed on the field. No card for the rice challenge and no tickets for two challenges on Leandro Trossard.
He was eventually booked for postponing a restart, but is there an argument that could easily have been a second yellow?
Dermot says: “The second is a yellow card for Fofana in itself [but he was not booked].
“If he is not going to give a yellow card for the rice, pull it out and tell him: that is your last. If he commits the next, you say: what do you expect?”
Man City 2-2 Brighton
Incident: Brighton saw an early goal in Manchester City excluded when Kaoru Mitoma was accused of leading the ball from the hands of the city of Stefan Ortega.
Dermot says: “As soon as the keeper has both hands on the ball, he is considered in possession and you can't challenge him.
“Ortega clearly has both hands on the ball. It is a fraction of a second and in honesty for Mitoma, he has to go for that ball, because when he does, Ortega has no control over it.
“So he has to go for it, that is his task. He immediately accepts it, he says it is a mistake. People have to challenge balls.
“Wouldn't it be allowed for handball against Mitoma?”
Everton 1-1 West Ham
Incident: Darren Bond has awarded Everton a penalty at the end of the first half, he thought that Konstantinos had contaminated Mavropanos Beto, but soon changed his mind when he saw it again at the monitor.
Dermot says: “A number of problems: clearly no fine if Beto kicks the ground and not Mavropanos. No fine.
“Var intervened very, very quickly. He looked at the screen and said no.
“Mavropanos was never anxious that a penalty would be.”
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