Premier League panel hand out retrospective vote on two Leeds United incidents vs Sunderland
Two decisions from Leeds United’s 0-0 draw at Sunderland have been reviewed.
A Premier League panel have backed the decision to not award Leeds United a penalty at Sunderland - albeit with one potential offence not mentioned.
Leeds wanted a penalty midway through the second-half of their 0-0 draw with the Black Cats last month after Dominic Calvert-Lewin went to ground. The striker was following in a saved Ao Tanaka shot but got sandwiched between goalkeeper Robin Roefs and defender Luke O’Nien.
Referee Michael Salisbury waved away claims for a penalty, with replays showing both Calvert-Lewin and Roefs got a touch on the ball. O’Nien, however, made no contact with the ball and instead thrust his bodyweight into the Whites striker, knocking him off balance and to ground.
The incident was one of two from that fixture reviewed by the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel. The five-person panel voted unanimously that both Salisbury and VAR assistant Craig Pawson correctly judged Roefs to have made sufficient contact with the ball.
To support their vote, the panel said: “The on-field no penalty decision was supported. Roefs gets clear contact on the ball.” There was no mention of O’Nien in the findings.
The penalty incident was looked at on Ref Watch last month, with former referee Dermot Gallagher suggesting Calvert-Lewin’s fall to ground was due to stepping on the ball. But ex-striker Jay Bothroyd noticed the impact of O’Nien on the Leeds striker.
"I think it is a penalty,” Bothroyd said. “He is in control of the ball and gets pushed, he is leaning into him and without that, he is not going down."
The KMI panel also reviewed calls for a Sunderland penalty a few minutes after the Calvert-Lewin incident. The Black Cats were claiming a handball by Tanaka after a deflected effort, albeit the decision not to award a spot-kick was again backed by unanimous vote.
The panel wrote of the incident: “The on-field no handball call was supported as the ball is deflected towards Tanaka at speed.”