Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka can have no complaints over not being awarded a penalty in last night’s defeat against Crystal Palace, according to former Premier League referee Mark Halsey.
The England international clearly wanted a spot kick given while the Gunners were 2-0 down, but his appeals were waved away.
In the end, Palace ended up getting a penalty later on which gave them the third goal in a hugely impressive victory for Patrick Vieira’s side.
“It was a tale of two penalties really. First was one Arsenal wanted but didn’t get, with Saka coming together with the Palace defender,” Halsey wrote in his column for CaughtOffside.
“For me, it’s not a penalty – if Saka’s in front of the defender and then there’s contact, it’s a different story. But here they’re side by side and it’s a fair challenge.
“Odegaard’s offence was a clear penalty, though. Paul Tierney’s in a good position and initially looks like he’s not going to give the penalty – he’s backing away, but then thinks “oh no” and gave the penalty. It looked like there was some indecision there, I don’t know if he maybe got a shout in his ear from a fourth official or someone at Stockley Park but it didn’t look right.
“In the end it was the right decision, but it was strange that he seemed to dismiss it before changing his mind. Still, it was the correct outcome so there can’t be any complaints really.”
It certainly was a penalty
Inconsistency by Paul Tierney the arm of Palace’s defender was fully stretched making contact on Saka’s left shoulder that was a clear penalty for Saka he wasn’t allowed to control the ball by that push