Dermot Gallagher explains why Bruno Guimaraes was not dismissed against Leicester on Saturday

Leicester City fans, including Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker felt that Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes was lucky to still be on the pitch in the second half at St James' Park on Saturday.

There were two incidents involving Bruno Guimaraes on Saturday that many feel warranted a yellow card, with some even claiming the one incident for which Guimaraes was booked should have been a straight red.

The first was when Bruno Guimaraes took a dive in the box to try and win a penalty with fans questioning why the Brazilian wasn't booked if the ref blew for simulation.

Shortly after that, Bruno appeared to leave a high boot in during a challenge on Stephy Mavididi with some people begging for a straight red card.

Sky Sports

Dermot Gallagher says ref blew for handball on Saturday, not simulation

As expected, both incidents were looked at by Dermot Gallager as part of Sky Sports News' Monday Ref Watch section in which they look at questionable decisions over the weekend and ask former referee Gallagher his view on the decisions.

First up, Gallagher pointed out what referees look for when classing something as simulation, especially in the are, but he also pointed out what the referee actually awarded the freekick to Leicester for which changes the narrative entirely.

“If you watch what happens, the referee actually gives a free-kick for handball, not for a dive.

“There is physical contact.

“It is not a penalty in his opinion, it is handball and not every handball is a yellow card.”

Dermot Gallagher believes a yellow card was the right call for Bruno's challenge

Given that the referee made the right call by not booking Bruno for the dive, then the fact that he gave a yellow for the Mavididi incident also feels like the right call, while Gallagher has explained why he doesn't believe it should have been a red.

“I think it is a yellow. I think it is yellow because Guimaraes is set, his position is set, he is reaching [with his boot].

“He is almost flicking out for the ball. He doesn’t plant his studs.

“He can’t gather any momentum. So it is not as forceful as you [might] think. It’s not a nice tackle but it’s not a red card for me.”

That pretty much confirms what we said about the incident in that it was more a result of a genuine attempt to play the ball rather than any malicious attempt to make contact with the player.