Former Arsenal and Wolves striker Jay Boothroyd has shared his thoughts on the penalty decision which went against Crystal Palace in their 3-0 loss to Bournemouth. Despite clear evidence that there was no contact between Dean Henderson and Marco Senesi, VAR failed to do its job and overturn the decision.
On Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, former referee Dermot Gallagher and Jay Boothroyd shared their thoughts on a decision which caused mass outrage from Palace fans and neutrals alike.
The decision was simply nonsensical, and the full breakdown of what happened can be found here. As well as Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola’s admission that the wrong decision had been made.
Ref Watch’s Thoughts
When asked about the decision, Boothroyd’s initial reaction was to laugh. Of course, the decision did not impact the result entirely but it feels wrong for a show dedicated to calling out incorrect refereeing decisions simply to laugh this one off.
“Of course he’s [Senesi] played a part,” Boothroyd stated, after laughing at the decision.
“People need to understand that football players, when we’re on the pitch, you’re gonna do anything you can to get the advantage. If you can fool a referee, get a decision to go your way to win a football match, it is going to happen.”
“The rules, you’re gonna try and make the most of a rule to benefit your team, like with all the stoppages with the ‘keeper. Senesi is doing what most players would do and he’s got himself a penalty because of it, it’s as simple as that.”
“He’s done his job,” Boothroyd laughed. “He’s fooled the officials and got himself a decision.”
Where is the criticism?
Ref watch, whilst not fixing the mistakes made by officials, is meant to hold their decisions to some level of scrutiny. In this edition, it just felt like the situation from the Palace game was all a laugh and joke. It’s hard to feel confident that the same approach would be taken had this decision impacted Arsenal/City.
Marco Senesi cheated. He conned the referee into awarding his side a spot kick. Whilst the decision didn’t impact the result, it should have been overturned.
The reality is that Sky clearly saw this game as of little importance, and their reaction to what is genuinely one of the worst decisions of the season has been inappropriate.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens the next time a big decision goes against Arsenal, but I’d hazard a guess that it won’t be as comedic whatsoever.
