Dermot Gallagher cannot believe controversial incident in West Brom v Norwich live on Sky Sports
Dermot Gallagher was baffled by the actions of Borja Sainz as he was sent off for Norwich City against West Brom on Tuesday (28 December).
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch on Thursday (28 December, 10:54am), the former Premier League referee said the incident would have “never happened” when he was officiating as the 22-year-old received two yellow cards in the space of three minutes, the second being handed out for dissent.
He asked “why would you do that?”, adding that the Spanish winger was just offering himself on a plate to the referee as he saw red on 33 minutes in Albion’s 1-0 victory at the Hawthorns.
“The only certainly on this is, this never ever happened when I was refereeing,” said Gallagher. “If a player was on a yellow card, he would have never ever done that three minutes later, got sent off, it just didn’t happen. Why would you do that? You’re offering yourself on a plate to the referee.”
Moment of madness
It was a moment of madness from Sainz as he continued to argue with the referee despite receiving a yellow card just three minutes before he was eventually given his marching orders.
That put Norwich in an extremely difficult position with almost an hour on the clock left to play, with Brandon Thomas-Asante scoring the only goal of the game in the opening stages of the second half.
It meant the Canaries were stretched throughout the rest of the match as they looked to try and get something out of the contest as Albion dominated the ball.
The lack of respect the Spaniard showed towards the referee was deserving of a yellow card because you simply can’t stand shouting at an official and expect to get away with it.
The most important thing for the Baggies, though, was that they managed to take advantage of the extra man to claim an important three points at the Hawthorns.
In other West Brom news, a journalist has shared a “mental hurdle” the Albion players are struggling to overcome.