Dermot Gallagher now shares whether Manchester United should have been given a penalty vs Tottenham

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Dermot Gallagher believes the VAR made the correct decision as they turned down a penalty appeal during Manchester United’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

United fell to a 2-0 defeat in North London after dominating the early stages of the game. Guglielmo Vicario made some brilliant saves to deny Erik ten Hag’s men, while Bruno Fernandes also missed a guilt-edge chance.

But United felt hard done by after Tottenham went on to score twice in the second half and claim all three points.

This was down to Alejandro Garnacho’s appeals for a penalty being turned down in the first half.

The youngster saw his shot blocked by Cristian Romero’s arm but the referee Michael Oliver ignored United’s appeals.

They had no luck with the VAR either and after a lengthy review, Romero avoided any further punishment.

And Dermot Gallagher believes the referee and VAR ultimately made the correct decision on Saturday.

Gallagher on Romero penalty incident

Speaking on Sky Sports News, Gallagher was asked if United are owed an apology over the decision, as Bruno Fernandes demanded after the game.

“I would say, 100 per cent no because the feeling is that he was so close,” the former Premier League referee said. “We talked last week about handball, I think it’s very difficult.

“As much as I think the more you drill down into it to get it right, the more it causes problems.

“I think one of the problems there is the arm is out, is it in the expected position? Is it above the shoulder? You can ask all of them questions. Has the ball come too fast? That’s what they felt, it’s too close and that was the decision they arrived at.”

Gallagher was then quizzed about Lewis Dunk giving away a penalty last weekend for what was a far less obvious handball offence than Romero’s.

“I think it’s generally acknowledged the Lewis Dunk one was an error,” Gallagher added. “His first arm was up and it blocked the ball, we all accepted that.

“But the hand that it hit was behind the back and it was his trailing arm, it didn’t stop the ball.

“Everybody seems to have come to the conclusion that was an error but this one [Romero] I think they’ve gone on proximity.”

It’s easy to understand why teams are growing frustrated with the VAR given the lack of consistency every week.

While it would have been harsh to award a penalty against Romero due to how close he was to the ball, we’ve seen similar incidents result in a spot-kick.