Sunderland felt they should have been awarded a penalty in the second half of their defeat to Man City
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has backed the decision not to award Sunderland a penalty in the second half of their 5-3 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The game was finely poised at 3-2 to the hosts when Elliot Anderson handled the ball as he challenged Enzo Le Fée, but referee Rob Jones waved play on and VAR opted not to intervene after a review as they deemed the action to be accidental. Sunderland's frustration was compounded when Antoine Semenyo scored not long after to make it 4-2 to his side.
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Speaking on Sky Sports News show Ref Watch, Gallagher argued that it was not deliberate and that VAR would have overturned the decision had it been awarded.
"I didn't think it was a penalty when I saw it yesterday and I don't think it's a penalty now," Gallagher said.
"I think there are a lot of interesting things in it if you look, the first offence is by the Sunderland player. When you run it on, it strikes Elliot Anderson on the left arm and ricochets onto the right arm, he's turned and it has hit his hand. It comes off his own arm onto his right hand. The distance between that ball, he's got no chance of moving. He's turning into the ball, it strikes him there's no doubt about that but I still think if that was given a penalty on field, it would have been overturned. It's not a deliberate handball, it's just a consequence."
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Former Premier League striker Jay Bothroyd said he agreed that the decision would have been extremely harsh had it been given.
"One thing I would say is I've seen those kinds of decisions given in the past but I do think if you give that then its harsh," Bothroyd said.
"It has come off the arm of the player, you're there in a position where you're so close to each other. I think it would be extremely harsh to give a penalty there because of the proximity."