Watch Ref: Dermot Gallagher assesses Cody Gakpo incident, Ben White antics and more | Football news

Dermot Gallagher returns for Busy Ref Watch, with the former Premier League referee judging the controversial events from the weekend’s action…

‘Gakpo incident was an avoidable mess’

Event: Anthony Taylor prevents Cody Gakpo from scoring after Alphonse Areola pulls down for a free-kick – even though the referee doesn’t call a foul.

Dermot says: “It’s a mess that could have been so easily avoided.

“Areola catches the ball – I think he hits the post. Anthony Taylor, for whatever reason, signals the advantage.

“But when he comes back, Areola throws the ball to the ground. The referee sees it, blows up and decides that the goalkeeper needs treatment.

“He digs himself well by seeing Gakpo close down and the player needs treatment, but it would be surprising if it went in the net.

“But he basically decided he didn’t need treatment. That’s where he makes a mistake — he turns his back on the ball. For that period of time, you’re not in control of the situation.”

Fair call to rule out Van de Ven’s goal

Event: Mickey van de Ven’s goal for Tottenham against Arsenal was disallowed by VAR for marginal offside.

A Spurs defender was ahead of the game when Pedro Porro struck the ball – but it deflected off Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel before reaching Van de Ven.

Dermot says: “Did Tomiyasu play the ball on purpose, did it hit him or did he block it?’

“I don’t think it’s a football action. His knees are bent and his legs are together. It flies from Gabriel.

“I think that was a fair call – it hit him. VAR was absolutely correct.”

Should Spurs have had a penalty?

Event: Spurs wanted a penalty for Leandro Trassard’s challenge on Dejan Kulusevski before Arsenal scored their second goal.

Dermot says: “I think he has a bit of a knick on him but he clips his heel. For me, minimal contact – not a penalty.”

Stephen Warnock: “I think it’s fine. The big thing for me is whether it’s minimal contact or not, there’s contact.

“I don’t like it because it’s so hard to get out of the way. Trassard clips his heel, which makes him cross his legs.

“You hit my leg by disrupting my stride pattern where I can only kick my own leg. But I won’t go down unless you touch me. That’s just a penalty.”

White’s ‘subtle’ attitudes with Vicario in the corners

Event: Ben White is spotting Guglielmo Vicario in the north London derby and trying to undo the Spurs goalkeeper’s gloves.

No action was taken on the Arsenal defender.

Dermot says: “The referee can talk to him if he sees it. He can’t give a sanction and he can’t give a free-kick because the ball is dead.

“Will he decide it’s unsporting behavior and a yellow card? Will he go and give him a public warning? Or will he not see it – I don’t think he will because it’s too sensitive.”

‘VAR right to intervene on Disasi goal’

Event: Chelsea thought they had scored a stoppage-time winner through Axel Desassi at Aston Villa – referee Craig Pawson ruled out a goal for Benoit Badiasile’s push on Diego Carlos after a pitch-side review.

Dermot says: “I thought it was a foul at the time. I thought a foul would be called and I was surprised it wasn’t.

“When the goal went, I was confident that VAR would pick it up.

“If the players are side by side and he goes with his shoulder, that’s OK. But the player’s (stone) is behind him and he goes with his back.

“The ball’s not in the picture and the law says if you’re going to push somebody, the ball is in play.

“I think he wrongly decides that it’s not wrong. It’s clear and obvious.

“We’ve got a referee and we’ve got VAR, so we have a different tolerance level. Craig Pawson doesn’t think it’s a foul but I do, so if I’m VAR, I’ll give you a warning. Go to the screen.

“He can get on screens and hold his ground.”

‘No evidence to deny Villa opener’

Event: In Aston Villa’s opener formation against Chelsea the ball looks to be out of play on the touchline – but play continues and a goal is awarded.

Dermot says: “There’s no evidence that the ball was out of play. I think it could well be because (Lucas) Digne gave the ball away…

“But the ball goes to the far side, where (Leon) Bailly is challenged twice by (Mark) Cucurella. It goes back to another Villa player who is challenged by (Mykhailo) Mudric. It then goes to the other side.

“There’s 24 seconds between that ball going out and the ball going in. The assistant says it’s too far to come back and the ball didn’t go out.”

‘Garden Penalty Award Too Hard’

Event: Newcastle were awarded a penalty for a foul on Anthony Gordon by Sheffield United’s Mason Holgate – which started outside the box.

Dermot says: “There are actually two trips, but the second one is on the line or actually in the area so the referee has his right to award a penalty.

“I ask the VAR – he said the same.”

Stephen Warnock: “The first trip leads to the second trip – it’s a knock-on effect of the first foul. I think it’s very tough.

“It’s a very tough call.”

‘Good use of VAR to cancel Chef Utd penalty’

Event: Sheffield United were denied a late penalty after an on-field review recommended by VAR overturned an early decision to award a challenge on Jaden Bogle inside the box.

Dermot says: “He definitely gets the ball and then a player goes over his leg. It wasn’t a foul.”

Sue Smith: “Credit where credit is due – that’s a really good use of VAR.”

‘VAR has learned and Onana has not’

Event: Burnley were awarded a late penalty at Manchester United for Andre Onana’s foul on Zeki Amdowney.

The challenge was similar to an incident against Wolves earlier in the season, which went unpunished. PGMOL decided to apologize for their mistake on that occasion.

Dermot says: “There is a great learning process involved. Eight months down the line we will see the same goalkeeper with the same challenge at the same end. We were told there was no penalty on the night. The penalty was awarded on Saturday.

“It’s a huge breakthrough. Rather than trying to be consistent, they’ve said, ‘We got it wrong and we’re going to fix it.'”

Stephen Warnock: “VAR has learned and Onana has not.”

‘Man Utd would have found it difficult to give a penalty’

Event: Man Utd were denied a penalty after Vitinho’s handball against Burnley.

Eric Ten Hag questioned why it wasn’t awarded but it was Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s handball against Coventry in the FA Cup.

Dermot says: “He was unlucky against Coventry. I told Wan-Bissaka it was tough. It could have been tougher.

“The only thing you can say about Wan-Bissaka is that the ball went a long way and it’s still short.

“I didn’t think either of them were penalties.”