Leeds United lost 2-1 away at Stoke City on Saturday afternoon.
Ex-Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has told Sky Sports’ Ref Watch (21/01/2019, 11am) that he thinks Leeds United’s Pontus Jansson shouldn’t have been sent off against Stoke City.
Most of the talk entering the game surrounding Marcelo Bielsa and the Spygate ‘scandal’, with Leeds under some pressure to get a result in the aftermath of his comments.
Stoke boss Nathan Jones decided to throw a curveball, using a 5-3-2 system – something that Bielsa maybe wasn’t prepared for, and the Potters came out on top.
Sam Clucas smashed Stoke in front after Mateusz Klich failed to deal with a cross, and Leeds’ task was made even more difficult when Jansson was sent off as Benik Afobe broke away.
Joe Allen popped up with a second for Stoke to seal the win, though Ezgjan Alioski did pull back a late consolation for Leeds in a 2-1 defeat.
Leeds were left enraged by Jansson’s red card, as it seemed to be a soft decision, presumably sent off for attempting to foul Afobe rather than actually causing him any harm.
However, it now seems that Jansson was sent off for a handball as he went to ground, obstructing Afobe’s path to goal illegally in that case.
Now, ex-Premier League referee Gallagher has suggested that the decision was indeed for handball, but the red card still shouldn’t have been given as Afobe was allowed to go through on goal anyway.
“I don’t think it’s a handball. If you let him go on, you let him go on, but once you’ve let him go on I don’t think that’s really on,” said Gallagher, with Leeds fans no doubt frustrated.
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