Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher is back to assess the controversial moments from the weekends action. Tottenham 3-4 ChelseaDermot: Intensity saves Caicedo from red INCIDENT: Moises Caicedo appears to plant his studs into the shin of Pape Matar Sarr during Chelseas 4-3 win at Tottenham.
No foul is given at the time and a VAR review decides not to intervene. DERMOT SAYS: I think its a yellow card. I can understand why Jamie Carragher thinks its a red. I think he goes down, puts his foot into the ground and doesnt go through it – thats what saves him.
If he catches him half-way up the shin, hes going to get a red card. What everybodys looking for now is intensity. Has he got it, has he got the momentum, has he gone through it. His boot comes down on the pitch, rather than his shin.
Thats what saves him. Dermot: Not enough in Kulusevski elbow to warrant red INCIDENT: Dejan Kulusveski catches Romeo Lavia on the side of the head with a raised elbow as the pair duel for the ball. Again, the incident goes unpunished despite a VAR check.
DERMOT SAYS: I heard [the VAR] say it lacked the intensity, he didnt use his arm as a weapon, he didnt draw it back. The question youd ask is why he has his arm up like that. Whys he running like that? Its a dilemma.
I heard the VAR say hes got his arm up but he doesnt draw it back, he doesnt use it as a weapon. It doesnt have the intensity, as you say, the buzzword now. That was their reason – when you look at where [the referee] is and what hes seen, he was speaking to the VAR and if you look at the images now, hes looking straight at it.
He sees what happens and will know how hard hes caught him. The images will then portray what hes said. Dermot: Difficult to do more about Tottenham missilesINCIDENT: As Chelsea players go across to take corners in front of the home end at Tottenham, paper used to make a pre-match display is thrown at their takers, causing delays on several occasions.
DERMOT SAYS: The best thing to do is what they did do, which is try to sweep it away very quickly. The worst scenario is to have to suspend the game. When that happens, it invites people to do it more.
Its not nice, its not clever. It happened on both sides, the referee and assistant did as best they could to get rid of it and move on. Crystal Palace 2-2 Man City Dermot: Lewis red exposes issue over second yellowsINCIDENT: Rico Lewis is shown a second yellow card in Man Citys draw at Crystal Palace, despite appearing to be trodden on by Trevoh Chalobah.
DERMOT SAYS: When you see that, youd say yes – but looking at it close up, its unlucky. He doesnt catch Chalobah, its the other way round. Hes paid a heavy price for the earlier yellow card. When you see it as the referee sees it, I understand why hes sent him off, it looks like a lunging challenge.
But it does expose that you cant change second yellows. No second-yellow review was to reduce stoppagesFormer Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher on whether second yellow cards should be reviewed by VAR: At the moment, VAR is evolving.
Whether that will come, I dont know. There was the [Carlos] Baleba one the other week, which everyone thought wasnt a yellow card. It might gather ground but at the moment its impossible. I think its the amount of stoppages [which have stopped it being brought in].
It will evolve, were in a better place than we were five years ago. Dermot: No argument over Palace final whistleINCIDENT: Rob Jones blows the final whistle at Selhurst Park with Jeremy Doku looking to counter-attack from a Crystal Palace corner.
DERMOT SAYS: He blows up very early, doesnt he? Theyre 70 yards from goal. I dont see a lot of argument here. Hes got so far to travel with the ball and the refs got to blow the whistle at some point.
Hes looking to blow in a safe period. Its 70 yards from goal and I dont see anything other than that being a safe period. Fulham 1-1 Arsenal Dermot: VAR did well to take time over Saliba goalINCIDENT: William Salibas Arsenal equaliser at Fulham is awarded after a VAR check, having initially looked offside following Kai Havertzs header to tee him up.
DERMOT SAYS: If you remember the infamous Arsenal-Brentford game, where the VAR gave up on the decision, they took a little bit longer here. They explained to the referee here that it would take a bit of time to check and get the lines on.
It took a little bit of time but they got it right.
