‘What people don’t realise’: Dermot Gallagher address Cristian Romero handball v Arsenal

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Dermot Gallagher has been speaking about the penalty given against Cristian Romero in the NLD yesterday and branded the Tottenham man ‘lucky’.

Romero was adjudged to have handled the ball near the line and after a review, the penalty was given which Bukayo Saka duly dispatched.

However, while a number of pundits have claimed the decision was harsh, former PL referee Dermot Gallagher claims Romero was actually lucky he didn’t get sent off.

Demot Gallagher discusses Cristian Romero handball v Arsenal

Speaking on Sky Sports this morning, Gallagher admitted he believed the officials had got the call right.

However, he also claimed that Yves Bissouma’s position actually prevented Romero being sent off.

“He may feel he’s unlucky to give a penalty away but I think he’s had a massive stroke of luck as well because what people don’t realise is if that Bissouma wasn’t behind him, he’d have also been sent off because it would have been towards the goal with no defender. So his bad luck in giving the penalty away became very good luck with Bissouma being there,” Gallagher said.

It was yet another controversial moment this season but this time, it didn’t have too much of an impact as Heung-Min Son scored immediately afterwards.

VAR continuing to dominate games

There is no question that we are discussing refereeing decisions and VAR more than ever. Indeed, why would Sky have a full show on it every week if not?

The Arsenal v Tottenham game was a cracking affair but once again we are left talking about a number of decisions afterwards.

Gallagher’s point here though is interesting. Had Romero been sent off, then the whole game would have changed massively.

In the end, then, it seems Spurs weren’t quite as hard done to as they might have thought.