Howard Webb's Verdict: Was Dalot Sent Off vs Man City?

Former Premier League referee Howard Webb has weighed in on the debate over whether Diogo Dalot deserved a red card in the 198th Manchester derby. Thankfully, it was a derby to remember as Manchester United beat Man City 2-0 in Michael Carrick’s first game back at Old Trafford as head coach. United had the ball in the back of the net five times, but three of those goals were overruled by VAR, including Mason Mount’s strike that was ruled out for being offside. TalkingPoints TV: Was that the BEST Manchester Derby EVER? Where does the Michael Carrick-led demolition of City rank for you? As with any Manchester derby, it was a busy evening for the officials. One of the biggest talking points from the game was Diogo Dalot’s tackle on Jeremy Doku, with pundits debating whether the Portugal international should have been sent off for endangering an opponent. Howard Webb verdict on Diogo Dalot yellow card Pep Guardiola and his Man City players were convinced Dalot should have been sent for an early shower for his foul on Doku in the first half. The challenge was checked and cleared by VAR, but Mark Clattenburg disagreed with that decision because he felt Dalot was fortunate not to have his yellow card upgraded to a red card. More United News Now, the Chief Refereeing Officer for the PGMOL, Howard Webb, has had his say on the matter. Speaking on the latest edition of the Match Officials Mic’d Up review show, Webb said Craig Pawson was correct not to urge referee Anthony Taylor to review his yellow card on the pitch-side monitor. “Yeah, it has split opinion, but I’ve also heard a lot of opinion, as you’ve alluded to, to say that this should have been a red card offence,” Webb said. “The officials on the field saw the actions of Dalot. They saw him stretch forward with his foot. He touches the ball, and then there’s contact on Jeremy Doku. “They deemed that to be a reckless action and therefore worthy of a yellow card. You’ll see on the field, there’s not a lot of sense around a red card. “There’s not a lot of reaction to it when it happens in full speed. The VAR’s job then is to look at that and decide, is the on-field decision of yellow card clearly and obviously wrong? “Now, we’ll talk on this show about a lot of situations that sit in the grey zone, where there’s a mix of considerations. I think this is one of those. “I know other people think it’s clearly red. I don’t agree. I think there’s a mix of considerations. I think firstly, you have to think about what those considerations are. “What is the point of contact is the important one, and I know that when we look at this, we see that the point of contact is on the knee. But we also have to factor in speed, force, and intensity. “You’ll not see many red cards in the Premier League for serious foul play that don’t involve those things. “Now, we evaluate those things through a full-speed view of the incident, and without looking at it at full speed, you get kind of a distorted view. “You don’t get a true picture of how much force and speed there was in the challenge. Then we have to slow it down, of course, to see the point of contact. So, different ways of looking at the video for different considerations, but we have to consider the full mix of them when deciding to come to a final outcome. “When you play in real time, you can see there’s not a great deal of speed in the action, not a lot of intensity. “We were heavily criticised a few years ago for using slow motion and freeze frames because people said, this is not reality, this is not how the game is played. “When you slow it down, it can look a lot worse, and it does when you freeze-frame it. You can make a lot of situations look like red card offences. “So, it’s difficult for me to hear people make a judgment on this just by analysing freeze frame and slow motion, coming to the conclusion that it’s red on that basis. “Yes, it could be red, but you have to think about the need to look at it at full speed. We’ve done that for some time now. “We thought it was a fair criticism some time ago when people said, stop using slow mo as the main way of analysing these situations. And we’ve listened and we agree, and we play it in full speed. “Then we slow it down a little bit to see the exact point of contact, to factor that in as well, but without speed and force and the intensity, it’s unlikely to be a red card. “I think it’s one way the referee’s call should stand on the field. That’s what we’ve said we’ll do where there’s a mix of considerations. I think there is a mix, and therefore, I think in this situation, it was right to leave it as the referee’s call. If a red had been given, I would have expected the red card to stand.” Imagine you are Jason Wilcox… what transfer business would you do before deadline day? Go all out for a midfielder? Make a under the radar swoop? Let us know! Diogo Dalot disciplinary record at Man Utd Dalot has made 232 appearances for United, but has only been sent off on two occasions. On both of those occasions, Dalot received two yellow cards before being dismissed, so he has never been given a straight red in a United shirt. Dalot has only received one straight red in his career, and that came during his time playing for FC Porto B. Meanwhile, Dalot has been booked 35 times as a United player.