Leeds United have been in the Premier League for just two games and controversy is already following them. In their opener against Everton, there was a hotly contested debate near the end of the game.
James Tarkowski was deemed to have handled the ball in the box. VAR checked and awarded the penalty, which Lukas Nmecha dispatched to seal all three points in a 1-0 win. After the game, that was the talking point despite the fact that the Whites were by far the more dominant team during the proceedings.
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In the game against Arsenal on Saturday, things were much different. Mikel Arteta’s side showed the gap between an established team and a newly promoted one in a 5-0 drubbing
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Former Premier League referee reviews Leeds United penalty incident
Credit: Imago
Arsenal played better for most of the game, and capitalized on Leeds’ sloppiness, punishing them for their mistakes. But for the last goal, there was a contentious incident. Anton Stach was deemed to have fouled Max Dowman in the box leading to a penalty. The incident was cleared by VAR, and the referee was not sent to the monitor.
On Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, former Premier League referee Dermott Gallagher did not agree with the decision, explaining:
“This is where we have a problem, isn’t it?
“In isolation, we can discuss this, but when you piece it together, one after the other like this, there’s no doubt there is much more contact in the Man City game than there is here.
“He does make contact; he just steps on his foot.”
Jay Boothroyd, who was also in the studio, believes it should have been given.
“When you’re moving at speed, the smallest clip or touch can stifle you and you will go down.
“But the Oscar Bobb one, there’s much more contact on that one – and the defender in this one hasn’t really lunged, he’s just put his foot in the wrong position, which has caught Dowman.”
Penalty did not really affect the result
If the penalty had not been given, it would not have helped the scoreline. Leeds were outmatched and outplayed. Hopefully Daniel Farke goes back to the drawing board to improve things before his team faces Newcastle next weekend.
Leeds should also be in the market this week trying to add a few more new faces ahead of the transfer deadline.
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