Former referee Dermot Gallagher called out for response to Arsenal and Man Utd penalty inconsistency

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher is being criticised for his comments on two seperate handball decisions involving Spurs defender Cristian Romero.

Last month, Manchester United were denied a seemingly clear penalty at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, when Alejandro Garnacho's powerful effort struck the outstretched arm of Romero.

Instead of pointing to the spot, however, referee Michael Oliver chose to award United a corner – a decision that sparked plenty of controversy after Spurs went on to secure all three points.

To the surprise of many, former referee Gallagher went on to agree with Oliver's decision to deny Manchester United a penalty for the handball by Romero.

“I would say 100 per cent no," Gallagher said on Sky Sports News after being asked if United would receive an apology. "The feeling is he was so close."

pic.twitter.com/tfifLeuzZa

They didn’t give the Garnacho claim because the shot was ‘too close’ to Romero, according to this. But they awarded the penalty to Arsenal yesterday when Romero was closer to the ball than the last incident 😂

Literally making it up as they go along.

— Scott Saunders (@__scottsaunders) September 25, 2023

Over a month later and Bukayo Saka slotted away from 12 yards after referee Rob Jones handed the Gunners a penalty following a handball by Cristian Romero.

Stephen Warnock, the former Liverpool and Aston Villa full-back who works as a pundit for Sky Sports, conceded that is was a "horrible decision" for the referee to make.

But he went on to ask Gallagher what the difference was between both incidents involving Romero following his previous comments.

The former referee appeared to ignore the question before saying Sunday's decision in the North London derby was indeed correct.

"I just think that his arm is out and VAR has seen it," he said. "It's heading towards goal. It didn't surprise me when I seen the replay. I thought it was going to be a penalty."

When asked why Arsenal got a pen when United didn’t for practically the same handball vs Spurs, Dermot Gallagher cannot explain it so doesn’t even bother trying to. Pathetic. pic.twitter.com/pRpWw5Bb54

— Jay Motty (@JayMotty) September 25, 2023

Here's how social media reacted to Gallagher's explanation for both handball decisions.

One fan said: "Predictably, here’s Dermot Gallagher saying the Romero decision in NLD was correct, but dodging the question completely after saying a similar incident wasn’t a penalty in the United game a few weeks ago."

A second wrote: "Not even remotely surprised at that pathetic response. They can do what they want with zero repercussions. The inconsistency and lack of effort to change it is laughable."

A third commented: "I'd respect it more if man just said he doesn't know why the decision was different this time."

A fourth added: "PGMOL should now come out and apologize to MUFC. There's no point in having VAR if this continues. Let human error remain part of the game and we move on from VAR because it doesn't help."

Thoughts on the two incidents?

Let us know in the comments.