Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has said that he thinks that VAR made the correct decision is awarding a penalty to Tottenham during their Premier League match against Aston Villa.
In the closing stages of the first half, with the score locked at 1-1, Steven Bergwijn made his way into the Villa penalty area where he was tackled by defender Bjorn Engles.
Referee Martin Atkinson remained unmoved, but VAR stepped in to recommend that he awarded a penalty, much to the frustration of the home crowd.
Speaking on Sky Sports News' Ref Watch, Gallagher says that he understands why the referee gave his original decision, but insists that the right conclusion was reached.
"I would not blame the referee one jot here. When you watch the play develop and [Borjn] Engles goes in and tackles, where the ball goes, I thought straight away he had got the ball," he said.
“But you can see here, that he actually gets the man and that is what plays the ball off. That is why it goes in that direction.
“What you would say is, how can any VAR watch that and say it is not a penalty? He quite clearly does not get the ball. I can understand the referee not giving it but I could never understand VAR not overturning it.
“I think it is a definite penalty; he hasn’t played the ball.
“If I was the VAR, I would be saying to you ‘I think this is a penalty, he hasn’t played the ball. I would say you need to restart with a penalty.
“It is very difficult to say that is not a foul.”
Son Hung-min stepped up to take the penalty only to see it saved by Villa keeper Pepe Reina, however, the Spurs man was the quickest to react and was able to put the rebound past the Spaniard at the second attempt.
