Dermot Gallagher says player should have been sent off in West Ham v Tottenham

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Dermot Gallagher has told Sky Sports that he believes West Ham United defender Ryan Fredericks should have been sent off during Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium.

Jose Mourinho earned all three points in his first Spurs match in charge, as goals from Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura. West Ham did reply towards the end of the match, through Michail Antonio and Angelo Ogbonna.

But it could have been a lot worse for West Ham. A misplaced pass from Hammers captain Mark Noble saw Son nip in and steal the ball from Fredericks, who dived in with his studs up on the South Korea captain in the 40th minute.

Referee Michael Oliver awarded Tottenham a free-kick and did show Fredericks a yellow card for the tackle, but Gallagher believes ex-Fulham and Tottenham defender Fredericks deserved to be sent off for the challenge.

“I think he is very lucky because on another day, with another ref, he could easily have got a red card. If you make a tackle like this, you really run the risk of a red card,” Gallagher said.

“As it is, Michael saw it as a strong or high-tariff yellow and if he had been sent off for that, he could not have complained. It is on the cusp and some refs may have gone yellow, and some may have gone red and some decisions are like that.”

TBR’s view – Gallagher is bang on, Fredericks should have seen red

Fredericks, 27, has gone steaming into the challenge at full momentum and is not even close to winning the ball. It is a sore one, with the right-back lunging in on Son above the ankle. A yellow card was certainly lucky.

Could VAR have checked the decision made by Oliver? The rule is that unless it is a clear and obvious error, then it will be left untested. As Gallagher says, it is one up for interpretation by the referee at the time – and Oliver chose to show yellow.