‘Has to be’ - Dermot Gallagher gives Man Utd v Wolves penalty verdict

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has commented on Wolves' penalty situation that took place during their 1-0 loss to Manchester United on Monday night.

Wolves performed well but were undone by a controversial refereeing decision, which denied them the opportunity to level proceedings after Raphael Varane's 76th minute goal. Pedro Neto swung in a cross for his teammates to attack but debutant goalkeeper Andre Onana ran out and cleaned out Sasa Kalajdzic with Craig Dawson also competing for the ball.

Referee Simon Hooper did not award a penalty, and after just a minute, VAR (video-assistant-referee) agreed with Hooper's decision, and did not give Wolves what they claimed for.

"You look at the images, and I feel the referee on the field should get it," said Gallagher appearing on Sky Sports News this morning.

"If he's seen it where he's stood. You see how far Onana comes, he comes a long way. He crashes in to the first player and crashes into Dawson. We talked yesterday about a goalkeeper colliding with a player and he's coming out head-on-head when he's going through on goal but this was a player that actually went towards the ball in the air. It just has to be given as a penalty, it's got to be a foul."

Gary O'Neil received a yellow card for his reaction, but revealed that the PGMOL referees officer Jon Moss apologised to him after the game, because he believed the officials got it wrong. Gallagher, who officiated 370 games in the English top flight, believed it should have been a penalty but suggested why a spot-kick may not have been awarded. Michael Salisbury was the VAR official, and Gallagher suggested that there was a threshold in what constitutes a foul or not.

Gallagher added: "I think the VAR should have overturned it, we being referees we're told there's a higher threshold and nobody knows what that threshold is, as we allude to many times on a Monday, your tolerance level is slightly different to mine. I think Michael Salisbury has pushed it to the absolute limit, far above what it should be. I think it should have been a penalty on-field without doubt, and I think VAR should intervene.

"The evidence of that with the Brentford penalty on Sunday, when the VAR intervened, and both you and Stephen Warnock asked me if there was enough to overturn it. If you look at that and compare it to this, it should have been overturned."

Referee Simon Hooper, VAR official Michael Salisbury and assistant VAR Richard West meanwhile have all been taken off of games this weekend as a result of their mistake at Old Trafford.