Brentford vs Leeds United: VAR denies Bees ‘softest of soft’ penalties in Premier League
There was an early VAR review during Brentford vs Leeds
Brentford had a penalty overturned by a lengthy Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check as the Bees pursued a fourth straight home win at the expense of Leeds United in the Premier League on Sunday.
Igor Thiago had scored from the spot in each of Brentford’s previous three home games and the striker seemed set to have a chance to continue that run when Gabriel Gudmundsson was adjudged to have dragged down Dango Ouattara, who was then ruled offside in a decision announced on-pitch by referee John Brooks following a three-minute delay.
“It didn’t look as if there was much in it,” former Scotland international Pat Nevin told BBC Sport, adding that a penalty would have been “tough” on Leeds.
“That is the softest of soft ones. If you touch a player at all, they fall down. It’s millimetres – it’s just a couple of inches of his head that was offside.”
Ouattara, who arrived for a club-record £42 million from Bournemouth in August, has been awarded four penalties this season.
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Brentford team vs Leeds
Brentford made four changes, introducing Aaron Hickey, Vitaly Janelt, Mathias Jensen and Keane Lewis-Potter for Kristoffer Ajer, Yehor Yarmoliuk, Mikkel Damsgaard and the suspended Kevin Schade.
On-loan Arsenal winger Reiss Nelson was out with a knock, as were midfielders Fabio Carvalho, Josh Dasilva and Antoni Milambo with knee injuries.
Keith Andrews’ side had lost each of their last two games 2-0 at Tottenham and Arsenal but were on a run of straight home victories against Burnley, Newcastle and Liverpool.
Brentford starting XI: Caoimhin Kelleher, Michael Kayode, Nathan Collins, Sepp van den Berg, Aaron Hickey, Dango Ouattara, Jordan Henderson, Mathias Jensen, Vitaly Janelt, Keane Lewis-Potter, Igor Thiago
Brentford substitutes: Hakon Valdimarsson, Rico Henry, Ethan Pinnock, Frank Onyeka, Yehor Yarmoliuk, Kristoffer Ajer, Mikkel Damsgaard, Myles Peart-Harris, Romelle Donovan
Leeds team vs Brentford
Midfielder Sean Longstaff (calf) and forward Lukas Nmecha (both hamstring) were out injured for Leeds, while winger Dan James was expected to be absent until at least February with a hamstring issue.
Manager Daniel Farke made one change, bringing in Ao Tanaka – scorer of their 96th-minute equaliser in their 3-3 draw at home to Liverpool eight days earlier – for Ilia Gruev.
Leeds had rallied in their bid to move clear of the relegation zone following a run of six defeats in seven games, beating Chelsea 3-1 at home before earning a last-gasp 3-3 draw against Liverpool at Elland Road on December 6.
Leeds United starting XI: Lucas Perri, Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol, Pascal Struijk, Jayden Bogle, Ao Tanaka, Ethan Ampadu, Anton Stach, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Noah Okafor
Leeds substitutes: Karl Darlow, Joel Piroe, Brenden Aaronson, Jack Harrison, Sebastiaan Bornauw, James Justin, Sam Byram, Wilfried Gnonto, Ilia Gruev
How to watch Brentford vs Leeds: Live online stream, TV channel
Kick-off on Sunday was at 14:00 GMT (09:00 ET / 06:00 PT). Live TV coverage in the UK is on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra.
Via Now TV, Sky Sports costs £14.99 for a day membership, £28 a month for a 12-month membership or £34.99 a month with no contract.
Sky Sports memberships include access to all 12 live Sky Sports channels and Sky Sports+, which offers live streams and a dedicated channel.
Streaming is available on a vast variety of devices via the Sky GO app.
Premier League results and fixtures this weekend
Arsenal beat Wolves 2-1 at home on Saturday courtesy of Yerson Mosquera’s 94th-minute own goal, winning after Chelsea earned their first victory in four games in all competitions with a 2-0 home defeat of Everton.
Mohamed Salah came off the bench as reigning champions Liverpool beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0, and Fulham ended a two-match losing run with victory at Burnley.
All fixtures start at 14:00 GMT unless stated otherwise.
Saturday, December 13
Chelsea 2-0 Everton
Liverpool 2-0 Brighton
Burnley 2-3 Fulham
Arsenal 2-1 Wolves
Sunday, December 14
Nottingham Forest 3-0 Tottenham
Sunderland 1-0 Newcastle
West Ham 2-3 Aston Villa
Brentford vs Leeds United (16:30)
Monday, December 15
Manchester United vs Bournemouth (20:00)