Ref Watch: Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran right to be shown red card vs Newcastle, says Dermot Gallagher | Football News happymamay

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher takes stock of the controversial moments from the Boxing Day match, including red cards for Aston Villa’s John Doran and Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes.

Newcastle 3-0 Aston Villa

incident: Duran was sent off for appearing to kick Newcastle’s Fabian Schar. It took referee Anthony Taylor 30 seconds to show Doran a red card after the incident. Villa coach Unai Emery revealed after the match that the club will appeal Duran’s three-match ban.

Dermot says: I thought it was a red card. People say he’s unbalanced because Char attracts him and there will always be a connection, but I thought he could avoid that. This is what Anthony Taylor saw.

What I like about it is that Taylor tracks it down and sees what happened and takes his time. I don’t have a problem with that because the ball is dead. He probably had some input from the linesmen and the fourth official. He took his time, this is not reckless. His right leg changes direction. This is what Anthony saw. I can see that. The assistant said he saw it too.

The decision was made in real time, and no one went to the screen like a CSI breakdown. The process was about humans making the right decision.

VAR looked at it. He felt the referee got it right. Let’s say he sends it to the screen, and when you see it in slow motion, it looks really bad. So, if Taylor had been sent there, I’m convinced he would have said it was a red card.

Emery continued to hint at a three-match ban. Is a three-game ban too much for that? This might be why he was so angry with him.

They will have to prove that the referee made a clear and obvious error, which makes an appeal very difficult.

incident: Joelinton was booked at the end of the first half. Morgan Rogers felt like he’d been hit in the face here, but had he had a small meal of it?

Dermot says: The referee handled this really well. Whether he should have taken action against Rogers is debatable. Sure it doesn’t hit him in the face, that’s not violent, but the player doesn’t have to do that.

Wolves 2-0 Manchester United

incident: Bruno Fernandes was sent off by referee Tony Harrington for a second yellow card. He received his first award for shooting down Mateus Cunha. His second goal came after the break after an intervention on Nelson Semedo.

Dermot says: When you make a tackle like the first one, you will always get a yellow card. It’s swamp standard. No attempt to play ball. Tony Harrington did very well, his confidence has really increased.

I don’t know why he made the second tackle, he’s too far back from the attacking line. If you look at it closely, it’s not a wise tackle and it’s an offense worthy of a yellow card. Everyone is disappointed when you get fired, but she was one.

incident: The Wolves scored their first goal directly from a corner kick. Andre Onana complained, suggesting that Matt Doherty tripped him on the goal line. The target stood.

Dermot says: Matt Doherty has every right to stand where he does. He’s not doing anything wrong. He is allowed to hold on to his land.

Onana actually pushes Doherty in the back, and Doherty makes no movement on him. There was an arm from Doherty but the starting position was there, he didn’t dip or move back.

Southampton 0-1 West Ham

incident: West Ham player Guido Rodriguez received a red card in the match against Southampton. Lewis Smith was asked to take another look at this and cancel the call. Was this the right decision?

Dermot says: One hundred percent. This is where VAR really works. The referee thinks he slipped his feet and takes him out. But when you look at him, he goes to pull away and doesn’t catch him. The referee takes a look and says only a yellow card.

Nottham Forest 1-0 Tottenham

incident: Jed Spence was sent off in second-half stoppage time for a second yellow card. He got his first goal for throwing the ball away. Does the second error warrant expulsion?

Dermot says: He doesn’t need to do this. Not wise at 90+4, no need to do this. He had no intention of playing the ball, he had paid the price for a reckless moment of anger earlier when he threw the ball away.

incident: Tottenham appealed a penalty kick because they believed Nottingham Forest defender Murillo handled the ball inside the penalty area. What did you make of this Dermot?

Dermot says: He would be very angry if a penalty was imposed for this. The ball just hit him, we all know he can’t move his arm so it can’t be a penalty.

incident: Forest felt Fraser Forster handled the ball outside the penalty area but avoided any reprimand.

Dermot says: The thing to remember is that it is the ball, not Fraser Forster, that should stay in the penalty area. If the ball is over the line, as it were, it doesn’t matter.

Liverpool 3-1 Leicester

incident: During Liverpool’s win over Leicester, there was an offside attack that seemed to take forever, late on. Three minutes and 14 seconds in reality, but it was actually reported on the pitch. Does this increase the argument for getting semi-automated infiltrations sooner?

Dermot says: There were two scans, which is why it took so long. People say this is infuriating, but this is what people asked for. You have now given them the technology to make the right decision.

This is the process, this is what we were told, and this is what we saw. We’ve come a long way in five years from where we were, and we’ve gotten much more accurate decisions. It’s much better. Semi-automated intrusions are a work in progress. Maybe if it’s going to take that long, maybe we’ll wait until next season.

When this is rolled out, it should be 100 percent, at the moment only a few adjustments are needed.

incident: There were early cries for a Leicester penalty at Liverpool. The ball hit Cody Jacobo’s hand from a corner kick, but was it in an abnormal position?

Dermot says: It will be very difficult to give. No one can see it there. There is no evidence to suggest he touched the ball, so stick to the decision on the field. People don’t like to say this about referees, but common sense won out.