FORMER Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher would have awarded Coventry City a penalty in their weekend fixture against Birmingham City.
In the final minute of regulation time, Birmingham’s Tomoki Iwata pulled Ephron Mason-Clark to the ground in the box.
However, referee James Linington waved away Coventry’s appeals much to the frustration of the visitors who lost the game by a single goal.
During Gallagher’s regular ‘Ref Watch’ segment on Sky Sports, both he and former Sky Blues striker turned pundit Jay Bothroyd felt the challenge warranted a penalty.
Gallagher said: “I think it’s a penalty as well. Iwata is the wrong side of him and grabs him, he can’t win the ball and once you grab somebody, it’s got to be a foul for me.”
Bothroyd added: “When I saw this with my naked eye, I said ‘penalty’. I know Frank Lampard and the Coventry players were fuming about this.
“I think it’s a penalty because when he’s played that diagonal ball, Iwata is behind Mason Clark, who brings it down on his chest.
“His next movement would be a shot. Iwata is not looking at the ball so I’m looking at this how a corner would be – he’s just trying to block Mason Clark from having a shot.”
And Sky Blues head coach Frank Lampard feels a number of penalty decisions have gone against his side in recent weeks.
Lampard said: “It’s a clear penalty. This is in a run of so many penalties that we should have had recently.
“We’ve had one penalty this season. I don’t know why we’re not getting them.
“We get apologies after the event but we’re not getting them in real time.
“We draw the game with a penalty probably if we score it.
“I’m not pointing fingers at anyone but when it becomes that regular it’s something we have to look at.”
