Gueye guilty of ‘illegal’ incident in West Brom v Blackburn – Ex-PGMOL chief
Blackburn striker Makhtar Gueye should have been sent off in their 2-0 win over West Brom at The Hawthorns on Wednesday night, according to Keith Hackett.
Gueye, 27, scored in both the 47th and 63rd minutes to secure all three points for Blackburn, who were without Derby-bound manager John Eustace on the touchline in the Black Country.
Well before scoring both of his goals, Gueye was involved in a nasty incident that ex-PGMOL general manager Hackett believes should have resulted in a straight red card.
Blackburn’s Gueye elbows West Brom star Torbjorn Heggem
West Brom centre-back Torbjorn Heggem was left writhing in pain on the pitch after the early incident at The Hawthorns.
The Norwegian has never been someone to go down easily but he required treatment for a few minutes after Gueye’s elbow clearly made contact with his face while they challenged for an aerial ball.
Sky Sports showed several highlights of the incident, all of which were shown to former Premier League and FIFA-listed referee Hackett.
After seeing the replays, Hackett came to the conclusion that Blackburn striker Gueye should have been sent for a very early bath.
“That was clearly an illegal use of the elbow and Gueye is fortunate not to have been red-carded,” Hackett told West Brom News.
VAR would have punished unruly Blackburn striker v West Brom
Out of the four replays Sky Sports showed of the incident after it happened, there was one which showed Gueye have a quick glance at his left to see Heggem coming towards him to challenge for the header.
As he went up to win the ball, only Gueye’s left elbow went up and went directly into Heggem’s face.
It sure seemed like there was intent from the Senegalese striker to strike Heggem with his elbow.
And while it wasn’t a big swing at the Baggies ace, it was still hard enough contact to leave him injured.
Referees cannot allow players to get away with that and it’s a strong case for why VAR should be in the Championship.