'I don't think so': Referee weighs in on VAR decisions made during Hibs latest win over Ross County
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Hibs became a main talking point over the weekend after they came away with a 3-1 win over Ross County in the Scottish Premiership. Their victory at Easter Road marked the fifth consecutive match where at least one side had scored at least three goals.
After losing 4-1 to Dundee and drawing 3-3 against Aberdeen, Hibs enjoyed a dominant 3-0 win over Motherwell. They were on the wrong end of that exact scoreline the next time out though, as runaway leaders Celtic continued their unbeaten run in Scotland’s top flight.
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Hide AdHibs are now ninth in the table, two ahead of rivals Hearts, who remained at the bottom of the standings following their latest 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock.
VAR got heavily involved in Hibs’ latest win over Ross County as two penalties were awarded and their last goal was also checked for a foul in the build-up. All three decisions ruled in the Hibees’ favour and, naturally, they were discussed on the latest Ref Watch segment on Sky Sports. Former referee Dermot Gallagher gave his thoughts on each VAR decision.
The first penalty incident came after George Harmon brought down Dwight Gayle inside the box. The initial check was for offside but Harmon also argued it was him who had been fouled instead.
“I don’t think so,” Gallagher said regarding the Ross County defender’s protests. “If you look, he [Gayle] gets spun. He grabs out at him — once you grab out at him, you know, that’s why he gets a yellow card as well. He’s grabbed the player, spun him round — referee gives a penalty and a yellow card for the defender.”
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Hide AdAnother mixed opinion inside the box followed as Hibs were awarded their second penalty of the day. A shirt pull on Josh Campbell, who also scored his side’s third in stoppage time, was argued as a foul off the ball on a Ross County player.
“Difficult to say, this,” Gallagher admitted. “Because when it comes in, if you watch it again, there’s about three [fouls] — there’s this one here in front of the goalkeeper, there’s one there at the bottom of the pitch, and there’s one at the back post where he grabs hold of the shirt. So I presume that’s the one he gave because he grabbed hold of the shirt, and that’s the player he yellow-carded.”
Gallagher then dismissed the idea that Élie Youan had fouled James Brown in the build-up to the third and final goal. The ex-referee said the Frenchman was ‘just really strong’ in the chase for the ball and was able to outmuscle his marker.
“Watch there, I don’t think it’s a foul,” he said. “Wins the ball, gets away and plays it in.”