Former referee Peter Walton is the latest pundit to suggest that Brighton shouldn’t have been awarded a penalty for a clash of heads between Joao Pedro and William Saliba on Saturday.
A couple of days on from Arsenal’s draw with Brighton and Hove Albion, TV pundits, former referees, and ex-players continue to suggest that Saturday’s hosts were unfairly awarded a penalty for their equalising goal.
Former ref Peter Walton is the latest to do so in The Times in their print edition on Monday, January 6th, writing that referee Anthony Taylor “overthought the clash of heads between Joao Pedro and William Saliba“.
Walton pointed out that VAR Darren England should have intervened to inform Taylor that Saliba had touched the ball and it shouldn’t be a penalty, given that was “the vital piece of evidence Taylor was missing” but instead England “let the wrong call stand”.
Former player Jay Bothroyd agreed, saying: “Initially, when I did first see it, at full pace from the first two replays, I did think it was a penalty.
“But it’s the third replay from a different angle…where you can actually see Saliba touch the ball with his head. And when he touches the ball with his head, it’s not a penalty.”
The Match of the Day pundits came to the same conclusion as well, with Danny Murphy saying: “Players coming together accidentally, going for the ball, I don’t want to see penalties given for. Most people don’t.”
“I agree,” Gary Linekar added. “I mean, I’ve watched football for far too long and I’ve never seen a penalty given for a clash of heads, it happens in every corner.”
Sadly, there’s no recourse for Arsenal now. It’s just another unprecedented decision against the Gunners that we’ll likely not see again for a very long time – if ever.
It would be nice if the obvious mistake in this case highlighted the issue and prevented similar calls from being made in the future. But it’s a shame that Mikel Arteta’s side always seem to be the guinea pigs for these decisions.
