Dermot Gallagher praises VAR after Man City vs Sunderland controversy
Sunderland’s defeat to Man City wasn’t without a couple of contentious incidents.
Goals from Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and Phil Foden earned Man City a 3-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday, and it was fully deserved.
The Black Cats have been excellent this season, but they lacked the quality to compete with Man City, even if they had a few chances to get on the scoresheet in the second half.
However, while the scoreline was convincing, some of the decisions made by Andy Madley weren’t, and Sunderland fans felt that they were hard done by.
Luke O’Nien right to be sent off
Luke O’Nien has been the story of Sunderland’s rise from League One, having spent the previous seven years at the Stadium of Light.
He made his debut at Anfield in a draw with Liverpool, before being handed the second Premier League appearance of his career away to Man City.
However, just minutes after coming on, O’Nien was late to challenge with Matheus Nunes and was shown a yellow card by Madley.
After a VAR review, Madley was advised to check the incident again before changing his mind and brandishing a red card.
When discussing the incident on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, Dermot Gallagher praised VAR for their involvement.
He said: “This is really good by the VAR. The studs are halfway up the calf. It’s dangerous and not a good tackle.”
While that incident itself wasn’t controversial, one earlier in the clash is where fans started to raise their concerns.
Gvardiol was penalised for a similar challenge
While racing down the wing, Nordi Mukiele was brought down by Gvardiol, who received a yellow card for his challenge.
VAR checked it and deemed that no further action was required, much to the annoyance of Sunderland fans when O’Nien was shown his red.
However, while it was certainly a full-blooded challenge, replays showed that the contact was at ankle-level, which is why the red card was never considered.
Ultimately, it was the right call from Madley on this occasion, and VAR were right not to intervene.
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