Officials were right not to send off Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson against Manchester City, according to former referee Dermot Gallagher.
During the Reds’ 1-0 win over the reigning champions on Saturday, VAR reviewed an incident involving Anderson and Phil Foden. It came at a time when the game was still goalless at the City Ground.
Anderson cleared the ball before Foden could reach it during the Premier League clash, but he caught the City man on the shin as he did so. Referee Chris Kavanagh did not punish the Forest ace and the incident was checked and cleared by VAR Darren England.
Reviewing the decision on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, ex-Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher said: "He (Anderson) definitely gets the ball; he catches Foden on the way through. What can a player do? Players are coming in opposite directions with momentum, so it's inevitable there's going to be a collision."
Pundits Ally McCoist and Joleon Lescott both had their say on the matter during the game. The latter queried whether Anderson should have been shown a red card by referee Kavanagh.
Speaking on TNT Sports (as quoted by the Daily Mail), Lescott said at half-time: “Initially, I thought it was just a block tackle. The impact from that would have hurt Phil. But having seen (an) image, I'm a bit more sceptical in his intent. I know it was deemed a natural (action but)…”
Quizzed on whether it was a normal kicking action, Lescott added: “I don't think that. Because the trajectory of the ball was across the floor. So for me, the fact that his leg is raised and risen into the leg of Phil Foden would mean that's not as normal as it may appear.”
McCoist had a different view. He said: “Somebody needs to get Joleon a cup of tea and just calm him down. Yes, he (Anderson) does follow through. There's a little bit of a follow through, there's no doubt about it. I think he's lucky not to hurt himself, I genuinely do. I know where Joleon is coming from, but I don't think it is anything more than was required.”
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side went on to win the game 1-0 courtesy of Callum Hudson-Odoi’s late strike. They are third in the Premier League table with 10 matches to go.
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