Michael Salisbury was in charge of the heated 4-3 Leeds defeat at Newcastle United Credit: Imago
Leeds United opened up an eight-point gap with the relegation zone on Saturday afternoon and will take on Bournemouth away from home on Wednesday night.
The 3-0 win over Wolves, coupled with Tottenham’s failure to Brighton just a few hours later, means Leeds are now in a healthy position to secure Premier League safety.
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Daniel Farke has urged caution amid the talk of Premier League survival. However, it would take a catastrophic set of results for Leeds to go down with five games left in the season.
Leeds have an away trip lined up against an in-form Bournemouth team on Wednesday night, where they can take another giant stride towards ensuring Premier League survival.
Premier League confirms decision for Bournemouth vs Leeds game
Leeds have had their rub of the green with a few refereeing decisions in the last couple of games. Paul Tierney came under fire for sending off Lisandro Martinez against Leeds at Old Trafford.
And referee Tim Robinson faced some criticism for the late penalty he awarded to Leeds on Saturday, despite the game being more or less done by then.
However, the Whites will have a few concerns about the referee who has been appointed for the game against Bournemouth at Dean Court on Wednesday night.
The Premier League has confirmed that Michael Salisbury will be in charge of the fixture between Bournemouth and Leeds in a few days.
Salisbury was also the referee when Leeds lost to Newcastle United 4-3, conceding two late goals to drop all three points from a winning position.
Leeds fans were left furious by his decision that turned the game in Leeds’ favour, and they will be wary about the Bournemouth trip.
The penalty decision that even baffled Alan Shearer
Leeds were minutes away from a historic win at St. James’ Park in January. However, Salisbury awarded a penalty to the home side after Ao Tanaka was adjudicated to have handled the ball.
The ball did hit the Leeds midfielder’s hands. However, he could have done little about it other than not jumping to stop the cross.
Even Newcastle legend Alan Shearer slammed the referee’s call and insisted that it was never a penalty.
Bruno Guimaraes converted from the spot to equaliser and Lucas Perri conceded a soft goal in the 12th minute of extra time to allow Newcastle to win 4-3.
Perri has not played a league game for Leeds since then. However, the defeat at St. James’ Park will be on Leeds fans when they see Salisbury on Wednesday night.