‘I don’t think…’ – Dermot Gallagher shares verdict on Meslier incident in Leeds win v Burnley
Dermot Gallagher has claimed that Rob Jones made the wrong decision when awarding Leeds United a free-kick for Ben Mee’s collision with Illan Meslier.
Jones caused huge controversy at Elland Road when handing the home side the decision despite Meslier going through his man before Ashley Barnes scored the rebound.
That was also disallowed before he hit the ball, meaning that VAR couldn’t intervene and overrule the decision made in the 1-0 win.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch on Monday afternoon, Gallagher claimed that Jones should have let the game run, as the technology could have saved his blushes.
“I think it’s all about options and I think in this situation, the referee has got three options,” he said.
“Does he give the foul? Which he does. I think that’s the worst of the three options. Does he give a penalty for the goalkeeper coming in the back, I think that’s an option, but I don’t think it’s a penalty. Or, does he allow it to play?
“I think the best option is to allow it to play, see the outcome because I don’t think it’s a foul by Ben Mee.
“Once the ball has gone in the net, he’s then got all kind of options, that would allow him to process it, but because he blew the whistle very early, them options have been closed.”
This isn’t as bad as many are making out.
Yes, many can agree that Jones should have let the game continue to see what will have happened, but he didn’t and you have to move on.
When these type of decisions go against Leeds, Marcelo Bielsa sits back and doesn’t look to blame the officials, and some others in the Premier League need to learn from that.
Meslier didn’t let this moment of madness stop him though.
The 20-year-old kept his clean sheet, making three reflex saves according to WyScout and consistently coming out to help his defence by parrying crosses away.
The Whites may have got away with one here, but it’s about time it happened, and all eyes are now on the West Brom clash, rather than this one incident.
In other Leeds United news, Robbie Savage slams shocking decision in Leeds win v Burnley
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