Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey believes that the correct decision was made to give a penalty against Wolves at the weekend.
Halsey reacts
The game with Brighton finished level at 3-3, despite the fact that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were leading 3-1 at half-time, thanks to goals from Romain Saiss and Ruben Neves, plus an own goal from Seagulls’s defender Dan Burn.
After Aaron Connolly initially gave the hosts the lead, Neal Maupay and Lewis Dunk ensured that Wolves were forced to share the spoils by grabbing a second half goal each to rescue a point.
[freshpress-quiz id=”339694″]
The strike from Brighton’s number nine came after 50 seconds of the second half when he was brought down by Joao Moutinho in the penalty area – the earliest goal scored from the spot after a restart since Opta began collecting such stats (via BBC Sport).
Speaking to This is Futbol, Halsey agreed with the match official’s decision and believes that the Seagulls’ spot-kick was rightly given.
“[The Wolves player’s] body language said it all,” he said. “The attacker may have gone down a bit easy, but he stuck a leg out there, so no complaints from me. The referee made the right call, it was a clear penalty.”
Transfer Tavern Verdict
Halsey is spot on. Making a challenge like that in the penalty area is always a risk, and the opponent will, more likely than not, make the most of any contact.
Wolves’ rise to stardom in recent years has been tremendous and a joy to watch but it appears that they have begun to stagnate at times, with no plan B to fall back on to resolve their issues.
Nuno’s team are without a win in four games in the Premier League and have had plenty of opportunities to move into the top 10 – and squandered them all.
They now face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup on Friday, which will be an opportunity to correct their dismal form of late.
In other news, ‘Unplayable’ Wolves star wants Molineux exit with interest coming from a familiar face.
