Ref Watch: Man Utd should not have been given a penalty against Swansea, says Dermot Gallagher

Image: Did Man Utd forward Marcus Rashford dive to earn his side a penalty against Swansea on Sunday? Dermot tells us...

Following another round of football fixtures, Ref Watch returns to debate a number of the weekend's controversial talking points.

Former top-flight official Dermot Gallagher has been in the Sky Sports News HQ studio to give his view on a number of incidents from the latest round of games.

Hotly disputed penalties, abandoned games and objects thrown from the crowd all feature in this week's edition....

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Manchester United 1-1 Swansea City

INCIDENT: Marcus Rashford is caught by the onrushing Lukasz Fabianski's arm

SCENARIO: The England international's run into the area is ended after contact with the Swans 'keeper, with referee Neil Swarbrick awarding a spot-kick after some deliberation

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DERMOT'S VERDICT: Wrong decision

DERMOT SAYS: I definitely do not think this was a penalty and I cannot understand why the referee gave it.

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The reason I say that is if a referee does not see something, I can live with that, it is human nature. What I cannot live with is a referee seeing something that did not happen. And if you see the referee's view, he has gone to the wrong position for whatever reason, he is blocked off by a number of players and he cannot see this decision.

He takes his time to look at his assistant, which is a little bit unfair as I do not think he can see it, and I think in the end he has just gambled and he has gambled wrongly.

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Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Arsenal

INCIDENT: Gabriel upends Harry Kane in the penalty area

SCENARIO: As the Spurs striker drives into the box, the centre-back appears to foul his man with a mistimed tackle, with referee Michael Oliver giving a penalty

DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision

DERMOT SAYS: I think it is a penalty as he fouls Kane, who moves the ball away and Gabriel comes in and takes him out.

Gabriel has initiated the contact. And this (decision) capped a first-class refereeing display because this game was handled absolutely superbly by Michael Oliver, who got everything right, the big decisions and that (decision) underpinned how good he was on the day.

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Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Arsenal

INCIDENT: Alexis Sanchez handles Son Heung-Min's cross

SCENARIO: The Chile international raises his hands to block the Spurs forward's pull-back from the byline, but referee Michael Oliver waves play on

DERMOT'S VERDICT: Wrong decision

DERMOT SAYS: I think this is handball because the player has his arms that high and above his head, whether he gets struck by the ball or a not. What is interesting is he is convinced it has struck him in the face, which it did not, then it is his chest…. But it hit his arm.

However, I can understand why the referee did not give it as the referee is behind and his body is shielded by Sanchez and my first reaction was it is the assistant's call.

But when you actually look where the assistant is, he is parallel on, he sees the arms up and I do not think he is convinced whether it has hit his arms, face or his chest. And there is a lot of doubt in Sanchez's mind isn't there, and it actually hit him?

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Middlesbrough 2-2 Manchester City

INCIDENT: Leroy Sane is tripped in the box by Marten De Roon

SCENARIO: The City winger goes over under a challenge from the Dutchman, with referee Kevin Friend pointing to the spot

DERMOT'S VERDICT: Wrong decision

DERMOT SAYS: I do not think it is a penalty. I know a lot of people do, but I think Sane has made the contact himself, he has already lost the ball, he sees a leg and uses it to go into himself.

He [Sane] initiates the contact rather than the other way round and he has quite clearly not been fouled. In Kevin's defence, he will say he was immediately sure and that De Roon had made the foul.

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Middlesbrough 2-2 Manchester City

INCIDENT: Nicolas Otamendi pulls back Adama Traore when through on goal

SCENARIO: The Boro winger, who is ahead of his man, is dragged back by the visitors' central defender before falling to the ground, with referee Kevin Friend only booking the Argentine

DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision

DERMOT SAYS: The issue is that [Vincent] Kompany is the covering player, he [Traore] is never going to get past him, or Kompany will have the opportunity to tackle him. It is an opportunity, just not an obvious goalscoring opportunity, so it is a foul and yellow card. But a yellow card at best and definitely not a red card.

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Crystal Palace 0-2 Burnley

INCIDENT: James Tarkowski is hit by an object thrown from the crowd

SCENARIO: As the Clarets celebrated their opening goal, the defender was struck on the head by a lighter

DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct action

DERMOT SAYS: The referee's first priority is the safety of the players on the day, so he would go to the safety steward and the match commander, who has match control as ever, have that area ring-fenced off.

If they can find the culprit, then remove him, and if they can't then do everything to ensure there is not a repeat. And the next stage is to report that to The Football Association and they will obviously investigate that on Tuesday.

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Leyton Orient 1-3 Colchester United

INCIDENT: The League Two club's final home game of the season is completed behind closed doors

SCENARIO: After an initial announcement that the match had been abandoned, the EFL decided that they would conclude the game from the 85th minute a couple of hours after home fans had been cleared from the pitch at the Matchroom Stadium

DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct action

DERMOT SAYS: I cannot imagine waiting two hours to play eight minutes, but what I would say is it says a lot about the players, the referee and everybody involved that you have to keep your concentration, refocus and also the players and referee have to warm up again.

Two hours is a long, long time to be off, so when they came back for eight minutes, I would suggest that they come back half an hour earlier, got ready again to prepare because you cannot just sit for two hours and come back and play for eight minutes, it is not possible.

Leyton Orient's final home game of the season ended behind closed doors after the match was initially abandoned due to fan protests
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