Ref Watch: Should Raul Jimenez have received second yellow for nasty collision with Illan Meslier? | Football News

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher dissects the flashpoints from the weekend’s action, including a second yellow card for Raul Jimenez after a clash with Illan Meslier on Friday Night Football.

Wolves 2-3 Leeds

INCIDENT: With Wolves leading 2-0, striker Raul Jimenez was shown a second yellow card in the 51st minute for a clash with Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier. It was arguably the turning point in the game. Talk us through this decision? Fans and managers moan about consistency. What makes this a red card – when Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez got nothing for his challenge on Liverpool’s Luis Diaz last weekend?

DERMOT’S VERDICT: “No second yellow card. Jimenez is unlucky.”

DERMOT SAYS: “I think he’s very unlucky. I think because the assistant got a side view, he sees him collide late and thinks he’s gone in and fouled him and he’s told the referee to give a second yellow card and he’s sent off. The irony of it is that the VAR can’t get involved because it’s a second yellow card. He’s desperately unlucky to be sent off, he’s desperately unlucky that he’s going to receive a ban and he’s even more unlucky that he can’t appeal. If that was a straight red card, it would have been overturned. I think it’s a collision. Two players going for the ball, they’ve both got to go for the ball. I just think he’s really unlucky.”

Stephen Warnock: “I agree with Dermot. I think it’s a ball that both parties have to go for and we often talk about being a fraction out. Jimenez’s timing is slightly out but he tries to go for the ball, he’s not malicious in the way he goes in for the tackle. There’s no force going in for it.”

Sue Smith: “I don’t think it’s a yellow card. If anything, I think Jimenez is trying to pull out at the last moment, so they’re both going in. It’s a 50/50 challenge and definitely should have been a yellow card.”

Jamie Carragher on Friday Night Football: “If he gets there before the goalkeeper, the goalkeeper gets booked. No one does anything different, it’s just the ‘keeper gets there. When the ball got played through, everyone thought Jimenez was in. I winced when I saw the collision. The intensity of it.

“It’s a coming together at such speed. I was uneasy at him getting the yellow card. I just feel when that ball is played, Jimenez feels he’s going to get it. He has to go for the ball.

“There’s naturally going to be a collision. Where can Jimenez go? The goalkeeper just gets there before him.”

INCIDENT: Joao Moutinho made a firm challenge on Stuart Dallas during the match. Was he lucky to escape a red card?

DERMOT’S VERDICT: “Red card. Moutinho got lucky.”

DERMOT SAYS: “I think he gets really lucky. I don’t think it’s a good challenge at all. He does get the ball, there’s no doubt about that, but he catches Dallas very high and with his studs. The game went on and it was being checked and I think what happens then is Leeds score, so VAR check the goal and whether it was lost in the wash, I don’t know. But he got lucky.”

Tottenham 3-1 West Ham

INCIDENT: There was a bizarre incident in Tottenham’s 3-1 over West Ham on Sunday. West Ham defender Kurt Zouma kicked the ball towards Spurs’ forward Heung-Min Son, who theatrically fell to the ground. Was that reaction not simulation?

DERMOT’S VERDICT: “It’s not what you want to see.”

DERMOT SAYS: “It’s not what you want to see on a football field and in the Premier League. I think you have to do what’s most important and the incident it sparked becomes focal rather than what actually started it off because it was such a minor thing, just to kick the ball at him like that. There was such a lot going on afterwards over what started as a petulant kicking of the ball.”

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

INCIDENT: During Arsenal’s win over Aston Villa, Tyrone Mings received a yellow card for his follow-through on Bukayo Saka. Was he lucky to just be shown a booking?

DERMOT’S VERDICT: “Yellow card.”

DERMOT SAYS: “I think the referee has got it absolutely right. I think he gets the ball. He does follow through, but he’s low, his point of contact is very low, he’s on the ground and his trailing leg doesn’t impact on the player. It doesn’t tick any of the boxes for a red card. I think you can look at any tackle like that and you can give me an image of a player with both feet off the ground, but it’s impossible not to tackle without leaving the ground.”

Stephen Warnock: “I didn’t think it was out of control from Tyrone Mings. I thought the right decision was a yellow card.”

Sue Smith: “I didn’t think that was a red card and I didn’t think the Allan one [against Newcastle on Thursday] was a red card. That’s the frustrating thing. I didn’t think either were. I thought they were both yellows.”

Celtic 4-0 Ross County

INCIDENT: Ross County defender Kayne Ramsay, who is on loan from Southampton, was shown a straight red card for a firm challenge on Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic. Was this the correct call?

DERMOT’S VERDICT: “Ramsay is unlucky to see red.”

DERMOT SAYS: “I think the referee felt it was the intensity of the tackle but he did get the ball, he did stay on his feet and I think he’s a little bit unlucky. In fairness, the player who received the foul couldn’t continue, so you could argue that the intensity was too much.”

Stephen Warnock: “I think it’s just the force that he goes into the tackle. He’s fully committed. I’d be very disappointed if I got a red card for that.”

Sue Smith: “I agree. I think it was probably a yellow, a strong yellow. An ‘orange’ perhaps.”

Aberdeen 3-1 Hibernian

INCIDENT: Connor Barron’s shot deflected onto the arm of Rocky Bushiri and the referee awarded a penalty. Was this a harsh handball?

DERMOT’S VERDICT: “Correct call. It’s a penalty.”

DERMOT SAYS: “He’s unlucky that it’s struck him but his arms are out. His arm starts up and then it’s out by his side and it blocks the cross and that is how the rules interpret it this year – arm out, blocking the cross, penalty. He’s unlucky but the referee has to give it.”

Rotherham 0-3 Shrewsbury

INCIDENT: In League One, Rotherham had Angus MacDonald sent off for using an elbow in their defeat by Shrewsbury. Did his challenge warrant a red card?

DERMOT’S VERDICT: “He’s unlucky. I don’t think it’s a red.”

DERMOT SAYS: “I think he’s a bit unlucky to be honest. I think he might catch him with his arm, but I don’t think he’s used his elbow as a weapon. From the referee’s point of view, I think he’s got the worse view because he’s got the player between him and the player he actually makes the challenge on. So I think he thinks he’s thrown an elbow, but I’m not convinced.”