Monday 14 December 2015 17:26, UK
Should Craig Gardner have been booked? Were Swansea denied a legitimate goal at Manchester City? And was Theo Walcott lucky to earn a penalty at Aston Villa?
Those were some of the questions posed to former referee Dermot Gallagher on Sky Sports Now on Monday morning, after another weekend of contentious decisions in the Premier League.
Read on for his take on the offside decisions, the penalties, the goals that were ruled out - and all the other key talking points from the weekend...
INCIDENT: West Brom thought they were 2-1 in front against Liverpool before half time when Jonas Olsson volleyed home a Craig Gardner free-kick from close range.
SCENARIO: Olsson converts in Gardner's free-kick in front of the Kop, but their celebrations were cut short when the nearside linesman belatedly raised his flag for offside.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Correct decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "I'm not sure really why it all took so long, but what I would say is that the referee Craig Pawson has got the decision right. What the assistant has tried to say to the referee is 'Of the four West Brom players who have gone into the box, who has put the ball in?' But for me it does not matter who put the ball in the net as the four who went in were all impacting on play. So I think he could have raised his flag straight away. It didn't look as polished as it could have been, But the key thing is they did get the right decision."
INCIDENT: In the same match there was an unfortunate incident involving Dejan Lovren and Gardner which saw the former stretchered off after lengthy treatment.
SCENARIO: Gardner went in to the tackle with Lovren during the second half of the match, a challenge which was not deemed worthy of a card by the officials.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: The decision not to show a card was correct.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "I don't think there is anything to punish to be honest. It is a good, hard tackle. I think we are talking about it because of the consequences of the tackle not because of the tackle itself. Craig has gone low, he gets the ball for definite and I think another good indication is the players. There is no player surrounding the referee saying 'That is a bad tackle'. Craig was entitled to go for the ball and he has gone with his instep. It's very unfortunate."
INCIDENT: Arsenal took the lead against Aston Villa through Olivier Giroud's penalty after Alan Hutton was ruled to have fouled Theo Walcott.
SCENARIO: In the eighth minute at Villa Park, Hutton was adjudged to have pulled back Walcott in the box. Initially, it looked as though referee Kevin Friend had ignored Arsenal's appeals before pointing to the spot.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: It was a definite penalty.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "I think it is a penalty 100 per cent and that is the referee's redemption. We have discussed this and how the referee came to the decision. At the end of the day it is a penalty, he [Hutton] has wrapped his arms around him. I wonder if one of the three other officials has seen the incident and Kevin has momentarily switched off. The fourth official can get involved if he has seen an incident that is going to aid the referee's control."
INCIDENT: Referee Bobby Madley punished Bafetimbi Gomis for a foul on Joe Hart before Swansea thought they had equalised against Manchester City.
SCENARIO: Gylfi Sigurdsson had played through Gomis, who collided with Hart before Sigurdsson followed up to clip the ball into the net from 18 yards.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: A clear foul on Hart.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "He hasn't disallowed Sigurdsson's goal because he has blown the whistle before the ball goes into the net. He's given a foul for a high boot, it was waist high on the goalkeeper, studs were showing and any referee would give a foul for that. Joe Hart has clearly gone for the ball and been fouled."
INCIDENT: Sheffield United's Jay McEveley made a heavy challenge on Coventry's Ruben Lameiras during the League One match on Sunday which was deemed worthy of a yellow card.
SCENARIO: Lameiras had the ball on the right wing when he was tackled late by McEveley.
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: It should have been a red card.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "I think this is one I can't defend - for me it has to be a red card. I think there are several factors - the intensity, the speed he has come at the player, his foot his high, he scissor tackles him. When you watch it, the assistant has flagged, whether he has fed any information to the referee I don't know but for me it was a red card."
