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Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher is back on Sky Sports News for the new season; This week he analyses the key decisions from Man Utd vs Arsenal and all the other major talking points from the top flight; Watch Ref Watch on SSN at 9am every Monday morning

Former Premier League referee

Monday 18 August 2025 10: 25, UK Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher is back for a new season of Ref Watch on Sky Sports News and starts by taking a look at the key incidents from Arsenal's 1-0 win at Man Utd. Should Riccardo Calafiori's winning goal for Arsenal have been disallowed for a foul on goalkeeper Altay Bayindir? Should Matheus Cunha have won a penalty after a foul by William Saliba? Also, Dermot discusses all the other major refereeing talking points from the opening weekend. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player INCIDENT: Matheus Cunha went to ground in the penalty area after a challenge from William Saliba. Did Saliba get the ball? Referee said no penalty. DERMOT SAYS: I wasn't convinced it was a penalty. What I would say is if it is going to be a penalty it's one the referee is going to give. VAR will not get involved in this. Jay Bothroyd on Sky Sports News: "How is that not a penalty? It's a guaranteed penalty.

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"If it happens on the halfway line it is a free kick. "Saliba has hit his foot and the ball has gone nowhere. If Saliba isn't there Cunha doesn't go down. It's a penalty. " Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player INCIDENT: William Saliba stood in close contact with Altay Bayındır as Arsenal score at Old Trafford - was it a foul? DERMOT SAYS: Not a foul. Not a foul at all. If anything the goalkeeper puts his hand on the player. Jay Bothroyd on Sky Sports News: "He hasn't been strong enough, he's caught out of position and that mistake has cost Man United the game. If he thinks it's a foul, go down, at least you've got a chance of winning a free kick. It's just poor, you need to be stronger. " Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher on Sky Sports News:

"Simon Hooper set his stall out from the start. He allowed physical contact and rode it for 90 minutes, he didn't change his tactics. I think the game was better for it. It was aggressive but it wasn't nasty. There were hard challenges but that's what you want to see. You don't want to see players taking advantage - and they didn't. The players knew exactly where they stood and the game was better for it. "

Jay Bothroyd on Sky Sports News:

"I completely agree with that. We are all complaining about soft fouls, let the game flow. Keep hearing the whistle all the time just stops the flow. " Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player INCIDENT: Eberechi Eze free kick disallowed by VAR after Marc Guehi interfered with the wall. DERMOT SAYS: This is the law. If a wall is set up with three or more players, opposition players have to be a metre from it. Often you see forwards standing in front of the wall. In this case, Guehi is stood between two players. Where they set up, Guehi initially is not deemed to be in the wall, he's between two players to the right of the wall, but as the ball is kicked, Guehi's movement is towards Caicedo and without doubt, he's not a metre from it. The IFAB Laws of the Game for 2025/26 state: "Where three or more defending team players form a 'wall', all attacking team players must remain at least 1 m (1 yd) from the 'wall' until the ball is in play.

"If, when a free-kick is taken, an attacking team player is less than 1 m (1 yd) from a 'wall' formed by three or more defending team players, an indirect free-kick is awarded. " You don't see it often. Most free kicks don't result in a goal, and because this one does, VAR has to check it. It was all about Caicedo moving into the wall and Guehi being in contact with him. The genie is out the bottle now. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Sky Sports explains why Eberechi Eze's goal was ruled out. .. Micah Richards said: "There can't be any complaints but it feels like VAR is anti-goals. " Roy Keane added: "Attacking teams now need to be aware of this rule. We see players in there blocking and being a nuisance all the time. "Guehi's almost gone too far in being a nuisance and shoving players about. He just needed to do it a little bit. " Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player INCIDENT: Senesi avoids punishment after appearing to handle the ball as the last defender. DERMOT SAYS: I think this is a really interesting situation. The VAR, for me, has looked at it too quickly and cleared it. I think he's seen the ball fly up off Senesi and has not watched the second part. He's seen the ball hit the elbow off the knee and stopped looking, he hasn't looked for the second swipe. If he sends the referee to the screen, the referee has all options. He probably sends Senesi off because Huge Ekitike is going to be away. The only doubt is, is it too far from goal? But this is a class forward. If it goes to the screen he would have been sent off. It was a mistake and fortunately it didn't affect the outcome of the game. Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher on how referee Anthony Taylor deal with the incident involving Antoine Semenyo at Anfield:

"Firstly, it's terrible what happened.

"However, from the referee's point of view, absolutely first class.

What I really liked was he got both managers together really quickly and explained what had happened.

"They identified where it came from and it was dealt with really quickly.

"The referee was first class because he kept everyone aware of what he was doing. he made it very apparent that protocol was followed and the fourth official was noting everything down. " INCIDENT: Burnley goalkeeper Dubravka gets penalised for holding the ball for more than eight seconds, resulting in an opposition corner. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player DERMOT SAYS: If you watch, he does take too long. I get a bit concerned with the eight seconds, because we don't want to have to get the stop watch out. But he's making no attempt to release the ball. It's a deterrent. That's why the rule is there. No referee wants to have to apply that rule, they want goalkeepers to get rid of the ball and keep the game moving faster. Jay Bothroyd on Sky Sports News: "I don't know why he's holding onto the ball for so long, it's about 12 seconds. " From this season, Sky Sports' Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live. And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games this season will be on Sky Sports. Super 6 are starting the season by guaranteeing a £1, 000, 000 winner! Play for free.

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