Mark Clattenburg thinks Fulham were wronged by Andy Madley and VAR in their Premier League clash against Aston Villa on Sunday.
Aston Villa returned to winning ways against Fulham, and Unai Emery will surely breathe a sigh of relief following a challenging campaign so far.
But the Fulham clash once again started poorly for the Villans.
Raul Jimenez’s early glancing header put Fulham in the ascendancy, though the home side responded extremely well.
That said, the match could have gone very differently if the two first-half decisions had gone in the Cottagers’ favour.
In the first half, the ever-dangerous Josh King danced through the Villa defence and hit a shot towards goal, which Matty Cash appeared to block with his arm.
Andy Madley dismissed the penalty appeals, and VAR also checked, but no penalty was given.
Mark Clattenburg believes this was a mistake. Speaking exclusively to TBR Football, Clattenburg said: “Anywhere else in the world, a penalty would have been given against Matty Cash after Josh King’s shot towards goal.
“Only Premier League referees do not penalise handball when a defender stops the ball going towards goal after a shot.
“Matty Cash turns away but still stops the ball with his back arm, which is away from the body. I would prefer this to be given as a penalty.”
This could have seen Fulham go 2-0 up, potentially putting the game out of reach – a game-changing mistake, no doubt.
An incident that has gone under the radar, considering the other call in the match.
The other first-half call scrutinised by pundits and fans involved Emiliano Martinez, once again with King.
Martinez rushed out and clipped the teenager, leaving Jamie Redknapp convinced it was a penalty. Redknapp told Sky Sports: “This is a penalty. Watch, he takes him out here, the ‘keeper.
“Watch his right foot. Josh King has nowhere to go, knocking it one way, going around him the other. Now watch Martinez’s right foot – sends it past him, look, he’s cleaned him out. Look! What’s he meant to do?”
Refereeing in the Premier League has been poor this season, and Fulham may feel hard done by the Martinez decision.