Sky Sports pundit fumes as Leeds United v Rotherham incident stuns Sky Sports studio when footage aired
Michael Dawson has fumed at the decision not to award a penalty after Rotherham defender Lee Peltier fouled Daniel James in the box, claiming Leeds United were unfortunate in the 1-1 draw at the New York Stadium.
The former Tottenham defender spoke about how impressed he has been with Leeds so far this season but claimed they let themselves down with their finishing last night, although they were unlucky with this decision.
As the replay was shown twice, Sky Sports host Caroline Barker winced at the tackle, as it was not only Dawson who felt Leeds had been let down by an incorrect call.
Dawson was speaking live on Sky Sports News [25 November, 01:18pm] “It’s a massive setback. I thought the run of form Leeds have been on and the way they’ve been playing, I’ve been really impressed with them.
“They didn’t take their chances last night but they started the game really well. It was a great finish by Summerville. It was a good start and you thought they were going to carry on that run of form they’ve been out.
“But they got punished last night for not taking their chances. [Rotherham] were fortunate here for Peltier to not give a penalty away on Dan James.
“That wasn’t the right outcome because we don’t have VAR in the Championship. Had they, it would have been a penalty and a red card for Peltier and Leeds were unfortunate for that decision.”
Only have themselves to blame
While the penalty decision, and possible red card on top of that, would have been a game-changer for Leeds, they must now dwell on that decision. They should have been out of sight and not had to rely on that call to save them after the chances they created.
A clash with Rotherham will have been one Daniel Farke’s side were expecting to take all three points from the continue their good form and surge up the table in their pursuit of promotion, be it automatic or via the playoffs come the end of the season.
The reactions of those in the Sky Sports News studio showed what most had thought at the time of the incident, it should have been a penalty and the referee made a mistake, but it will do no good for Leeds to focus on that.
Dawson’s suggestion that VAR would have done a better job if it was introduced in the second tier is a fair one, but given the mishaps the video assistant has caused in Premier League games, there is no guarantee it would have overturned even such a poor decision as this.
In other Leeds United news, the club have suffered an injury blow in the Rotherham game.