Here are the most contentious decisions from Gameweek 13 in the Premier League.
The Incident: Luca Koleosho dribbles into the box and is caught by Vladimír Coufal. Referee does not give a penalty, a decision which is upheld by VAR (Burnley 1-2 West Ham).
Verdict: A penalty should have been given. Coufal clearly stuck out his leg to stop Koleosho and caught him. VAR should have asked the referee to go to the screen.
The Incident: Koloesho dribbles into West Ham’s box again and goes down under Mohammed Kudus’ challenge. Referee awards a penalty which is scored by Jay Rodriguez.(Burnley 1-2 West Ham)
Verdict: This was a soft penalty and very unfair to Kudus who barely trod on Koleosho’s foot while marking him in the box. It wasn’t even an attempt by the forward to tackle for the ball. It’s possible that the referee’s decision was influenced by the failure to make the right call in the first half.
The Incident: Alisson tries to grab a cross but fails to reach the ball under the challenge of Manuel Akanji. Reuben Dias pounces on the loose ball and scores. The goal is, however, ruled out for a foul on the Liverpool goal. (Man City 1-1 Liverpool)
Verdict: My initial thought was that this was a soft foul to give as Akanji seemed to genuinely challenge the goalkeeper for the cross.
However, different angles show that Akanji holds onto Alisson’s arm, seemingly impeding his ability to grab the ball. While I maintain that it was soft, such challenges on the goalkeeper are always going to be sanctioned. A foul was ultimately the right call.
The Incident: Anthony Martial goes down under the challenge of Ashley Young. Martial is booked for diving but the referee is asked to go to the screen by the VAR and reverses his decision. A penalty is awarded and is scored by Marcus Rashford (Everton 0-3 Man Utd)
Verdict: While it appeared that Ashley Young tried to pull out of the challenge, this was only after he had made contact with Martial. The decision to ultimately award a penalty was the right one.
The Incident: Tom Cairney goes down in the Wolves box after a challenge from Nelson Semedo. Referee points to the spot and the penalty is converted by Willian. (Fulham 3-2 Wolves).
Verdict: Wrong decision to award the penalty. Semedo got a significant enough touch on the ball before making any kind of contact with Cairney. Wolves again hard done by.
The Incident: Harry Wilson goes down under the challenge of Joao Gomes in the Wolves box. Referee waves the complaints away but is advised to go to the screen. He reverses his decision and awards a penalty to Fulham. Willian converts to win the game late for Fulham. (Fulham 3-2 Wolves).
Verdict: Correct decision to award the penalty. Wilson came from Gomes’ blind side and got caught. Just like Ashley Young, Gomes only made a move to pull out of the challenge after making contact with Wilson.
