Crystal Palace’s defeat to Liverpool was mired in controversy following some surprise refereeing decisions, but an alternative view has now been offered on one key moment.
Jordan Ayew was sent off for two yellow cards, and it has since been claimed by pundits and a former referee that he did not deserve to be dismissed for his foul on Harvey Elliott.
Palace were leading 1-0 at the time of Ayew’s dismissal, but conceded almost immediately before Elliott went on to score the winner.
However, it has now been claimed that Palace should not have even been leading 1-0, as Jean-Philippe Mateta’s penalty may not have not been given on a different day.
Crystal Palace’s penalty controversy
Speaking on Sky Sports News, former referee Dermot Gallagher claimed that Crystal Palace were somewhat lucky to be awarded a penalty after Mateta was brought down by Jarrell Quansah.
“I was watching this game live and I didn’t think it was a penalty at the time I watched it,” he stated.
“When I heard they were checking the penalty, my first thought was ‘good luck with that’.
“But when I saw the replay, I thought ‘he’s going to give this’ and the more it went on, the more I thought he [Brooks] was going to give it.
“The more he watched it, the more he was convinced it was a penalty. Then the referee went to the screen, it took a long time, but they gave a penalty.
“One of the problems I have now is when you see it afterwards, you know what they’re looking at and you can’t unsee it.
“The referee has all options when he goes to the screen… he’s not duty bound to give a penalty.”
Should Palace have been awarded a penalty against Liverpool?
Both the referee and VAR team on the day agreed that Mateta should have been given the penalty. Quansah tripped the striker up without making contact with the ball, and very few watching would have disagreed with the decision.
One argument could be that Quansah’s trip was a soft one, and on the same day, Arsenal were not awarded a penalty against Aston Villa after Gabriel Jesus was tripped in a similar manner.
On balance, it appeared to be the fair decision, and Liverpool could have few complaints with it, particularly given the controversy over Ayew’s red card.
