Dermot Gallagher disagrees with Man Utd star’s claim and talks ‘myth’ that impacted Leeds United

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has weighed in on some of the controversial incidents during Leeds United’s defeat to Manchester United.

Despite a spirited comeback, Marcelo Bielsa’s men came up short against the Reds over the weekend, eventually losing 4-2.

Goals from Rodrigo and Raphinha in quick succession saw Leeds come back from two goals down, but Fred and Anthony Elanga took the game away from Bielsa’s men.

But there were some controversial points in the match, as there so often are. And as part of Sky Sports’ Ref Watch feature, former top-flight referee Gallagher has issued his verdict on the decisions made by Paul Tierney across the afternoon.

Firstly, there is the question of whether Scott McTominay should have been sent off after picking up a yellow card for a collision with Robin Koch before picking up a handful of less serious fouls.

Many felt McTominay should have been given a second yellow, but Gallagher doesn’t think so.

“I thought the referee Paul Tierney dealt with this situation and other similar situations in this game really well,” he said.

“The yellow card procedure is as follows: is a challenge just a foul with no further action needed? Is it a foul with further admonishment? Or is something a foul with a yellow card?

“Once someone is on a yellow card, that process starts again. There’s a myth that because you are on a yellow card, the next foul means you are going to go off.

“That’s not right. What happens is that you are back to square one. It could be that the next tackle, you get sent off but it could be that you have an accumulation of tackles.

“In situations like this, Mark Clattenburg was an expert in knowing when two fouls could be paired up to equal a red.

“But McTominay never then committed what was then an out-and-out second yellow card. He was chipping away, but Mark was really good at telling a player to stop.

“It meant that whatever happened on the next foul, the player would be sent off. The referees do this well now.”

Koch’s head blow has started a discussion over whether he should have been taken off amid fears of concussion.

But with the Leeds star passing concussion protocol, Gallagher says there is nothing more referee Tierney could have done.

“It’s all about trust in these situations,” he added. The referee really has to trust the doctor and the people who assess the player and it’s all down to them as they’re the experts.

“The referee is only really there to be informed. Paul Tierney was informed that the player was alright to continue so he can’t really go against that.

“I, like the current referees, can only take the guidance off the experts. The current protocols are there to be adhered to and Leeds will say they adhered to them. The referee can’t do much else.”

Lastly, Man United star Bruno Fernandes claimed there was a foul in the build-up to Leeds’ equaliser, with Adam Forshaw putting in what the Portuguese midfielder thought was a questionable challenge.

Assessing that incident, Gallagher said: “I think he got plenty of the ball and for me this summed up the game. The second half was fantastic and both sets of players went at each other.

“For me, he’s got plenty of the ball and it’s a good hard tackle. Fernandes didn’t expect him to be there and for me there’s not a lot wrong with that.”