admin‘No doubt about that’ – Sky Sports pundits run rule over contentious Sunderland penalty shout vs Liverpool
Sunderland earned a 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday — and referee Stuart Atwell was right not to award them a late penalty, according to Sky Sports pundits Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd.
The Black Cats once again showed their Premier League quality with an impressive performance on Merseyside. Chemsdine Talbi put them ahead in the second half, only for Liverpool to equalise when Nordi Mukiele accidentally diverted a Florian Wirtz effort into his own net.
Sunderland still had chances to win it, including a dramatic late breakaway from Wilson Isidor, who raced from his own half but was denied by a remarkable recovery run from Federico Chiesa after rounding Alisson Becker. Regis Le Bris’ side also struck the woodwork twice and saw a strong penalty appeal turned down.
That shout came when a long throw was launched into the Liverpool box and Dan Ballard fell under pressure from Dominik Szoboszlai, claiming he had been pushed. VAR checked the incident, but Atwell stood by his decision, ruling the contact insufficient for a foul — a verdict Gallagher and Bothroyd supported.
What did Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd say about the incident?
Speaking on Ref Watch on Thursday, former Premier League referee Gallagher was clear: “No penalty. Ballard isn’t getting the ball, he feels the touch — no question about that — but he also leans in looking for it. He feels contact on his back and goes down. That’s just the consequence.”
Bothroyd agreed, explaining that Ballard initiated much of the contact: “I know exactly what he’s tried to do. He gets ahead of Szoboszlai and then backs in to create the contact. As Szoboszlai is moving, he naturally runs into him.
It’s not Szoboszlai pushing him — both players are moving, Ballard gets in front, plants his legs, Szoboszlai bumps into him, and he goes down. The referee got it right — it’s not a penalty.”
Gallagher summed it up by saying: “It shows two things: football is a contact sport, and not every bit of contact is a foul.”
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