[ 2021-02-28 ]

Two missed penalties and VAR chaos as West Bromwich Albion ride their luck
One of the craziest games of the season so far
ended with West Bromwich Albion earning a
hard-fought win with an early Kyle Bartley goal,
but the game will long be remembered for the
madness at the other end of the pitch.

Brighton & Hove Albion missed two penalties and
were also the aggrieved party in the most
controversial incident of the game, which had the
referee Lee Mason at its centre. Brighton had the
ball in the net in the 28th minute from a quickly
taken free kick by Lewis Dunk, which was
disallowed, then allowed under protest, before
being disallowed again amid chaotic scenes at the
Hawthorns.

Mason was knocked to the ground accidentally by
Conor Gallagher in the first couple of minutes and
he didn’t seem to regain his composure after
that. There was nothing particularly extraordinary
about how West Brom took the lead on 11 minutes as
Sam Allardyce’s side had been peppering the
Brighton box with high balls virtually from the
first whistle and the visitors hadn’t dealt with
the bombardment particularly well.

Bartley has scored three Premier League goals this
season; only in 2016-17 (six) has the defender
netted more in a league campaign




Okay Yokuslu’s speculative long shot was then
deflected for a corner, which Conor Gallagher
took. He placed the ball on to the head of Bartley
who had risen well in the Brighton six-yard box
with the Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sánchez
surrounded by opponents and headed firmly into the
net.

Brighton came roaring back and Aaron Connolly’s
effort was deflected for a corner, leading to the
first but by no means most controversial VAR
moment. Pascal Gross’s corner struck the raised
hand of Yakuslu. Brighton players protested and
play continued for about 90 seconds while a VAR
review took place which resulted in the awarding
of a penalty for Brighton. The players returned to
the scene of the crime where Gross promptly made a
mess of his penalty, pausing for an age after
making his run up and then hammering the ball
against the crossbar in the centre of the goal
with Johnstone having dived to his right.

Source - The Times, UK

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