Dermot Gallagher now shares whether Southampton’s penalty vs Tottenham should have been given

Add as preferred source on Google

Refereeing expert Dermot Gallagher has now shared whether Southampton’s penalty against Tottenham was the right decision.

Speaking on Sky Sports News, via Football Daily, Gallagher gave his point of view on the key incident.

Tottenham had been cruising 15 minutes before the end of the match, having established a 3-1 lead.

Pedro Porro and Ivan Perisic both scored their first goals for the club either side of another Harry Kane header.

However, after Che Adams scored early in the second-half, Theo Walcott halved the deficit with his first goal in two years.

In the final moments, a piece of desperate defending from Pape Matar Sarr saw Simon Hooper point to the spot.

There were plenty of complaints from Tottenham’s players who didn’t believe Southampton should have been awarded a penalty.

Eventually the spot kick was taken and James Ward-Prowse earned his relegation-threatened side a much-needed point.

Gallagher has now shared whether the penalty should have been awarded having viewed the incident.

Gallagher gives verdict on Southampton v Tottenham penalty incident

Asked on Sky Sports News if there was enough contact between Sarr and Maitland-Niles, Gallagher said: “That’s the only thing you’d ask, is there enough contact?

“What you would say in Simon Hooper’s defence is that he’s very, very close and he definitely does catch him.

“Maitland-Niles is very clever, as he comes in, he gets the ball, the defender comes in behind him.

“Sarr doesn’t see him coming, and he does catch him. Simon Hooper’s four, five, six yards away, has a clear view and he will also hear the impact.

“With a light touch, it’s not as big a foul as we’ve seen this season, but you can’t deny he does catch him.”

The talk was expected to be about the controversial decision after the match until Antonio Conte’s press conference.

The Italian berated not just the players but the entire club, leading many to speculate his time at Spurs might be over.

Some players now believe he may leave the club before their next match against Everton after the international break.

It would be interesting to know if he planned to address the media in the same way if Southampton had not been awarded their controversial penalty against Tottenham.

Either way, Gallagher believes the referee made the right call, even if the contact looked minimal at best from the replays.