Izuchukwu OkosiFormer English Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher, on Monday, explained why Arsenal players were denied what appeared to be a penalty in their 1-1 draw against Southampton at the Saint Mary’s Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Brazilian Gabriel Jesus was supposedly fouled by Southampton Duje Caleta-Car in the penalty area, an action which many thought should have attracted a penalty kick.
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Gallagher insisted that it was the right call by referee Robert Jones.
“Tough call I think, tangle of legs. A coming together, call it what you like, it’s untidy. But it seems a little bit unfair when the Southampton player does get the ball there to say it’s a foul.
“People say, well he still catches him afterwards. He does play the ball, he is clumsy, but both going for the ball. I’d side with the referee,” Gallagher said of the situation.
Interestingly, Jesus revealed to the media that the referee told him why the penalty was not awarded to the Gunners.
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“I spoke with him straight after and he said if you go down before maybe I can give a penalty,” Jesus revealed.
“But I think I was fair, I tried to hold and keep standing and tried to finish the action but in the end he grabbed me and it was impossible, so I go down normally.
“But that is not the reason why we don’t win the game, we had a lot of chances.”
Meanwhile another former Premier League referee, Mike Halsey countered his one-time colleague, insisting that the striker deserved to be awarded a spot kick.
“Arsenal should have been awarded a first-half penalty when Gabriel Jesus was hauled down by Southampton’s Duje Caleta-Car,’’ Halsey wrote in his column for British tabloid, The Sun.
‘‘The incident highlighted the inconsistency of decision-making by officials over holding offences this weekend, with Chelsea and Aston Villa benefiting in similar situations.
‘’Caleta-Car wasn’t goal-side and tried to make life difficult for Jesus but he committed himself to a clear holding offence and referee Robert Jones should have pointed to the spot.
‘‘If Jones didn’t see it, VAR official Peter Bankes needed to intervene,” Halsey further stated.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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