Did Rob Jones Get It Wrong? Controversial Call in Manchester City vs Sunderland
The Rob Jones Manchester City Sunderland penalty decision is the refereeing moment supporters are still arguing about after Sunday’s thriller at the Etihad. Manchester City won 5-3, but the biggest flashpoint came when officials waved away a handball appeal involving Elliot Anderson late in the game.
Sky Sports pundits Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd gave their verdict on Ref Watch this week. Both agreed that referee Rob Jones and VAR official Michael Salisbury got the call right. Even though it looked harsh in real time.
Introduction: The Match and the Whistle
Sunderland gave City a real game in a thrilling 5-3 defeat at Etihad, with Brian Brobbey scoring a hat-trick and Antoine Semenyo pulling the visitors back to 4-2 before City eventually pulled clear.
Rob Jones took charge of the fixture as match referee. Michael Salisbury worked as VAR. Between them, they were responsible for every major call. It was their decision not to award a penalty that dominated the post-match inquest.
Handball Claim Against Elliot Anderson (Rob Jones and Michael Salisbury)
The incident centred on Anderson, who appeared to have the ball strike his arm inside the area. Sunderland fans and players felt it should have been given. Rob Jones did not point to the spot. Michael Salisbury did not intervene from the VAR booth. Gallagher explained why on Ref Watch.
“I did not think it was a penalty yesterday, and I still think it was not a penalty. There are a lot of interesting things about this. The first handball was by a Sunderland player. As it runs on, it strikes Anderson on the left arm. Ricochets onto his right hand and up his arm. So he has no chance. He turns into the ball, and it strikes him. There is no doubt about that. I still think if that is given as a penalty, it will be overturned. They will say it is not a deliberate handball. It is just a consequence.
Gallagher’s point was simple. The ball had already come off a Sunderland player before it hit Anderson. His arm position was reactive rather than deliberate. Bothroyd, sitting alongside him as a guest analyst, agreed and went into more detail about the proximity of the players.
“One thing I would say. Dermot and I have seen those kinds of decisions given in the past. I do think if you give that, it’s harsh. As Dermot said there, it’s come off the player’s arms. You’re there in a position where you’re not even a yard away. You’re so close to each other. It’s not like he’s intentionally tried to do that. To be honest. What I’m thinking there is, not from this angle, not even from this angle. The next angle you see, it looks like he’s just trying to kind of brush him away from the ball. Like hold the defender off. This one here, he puts his arm down. He sees when the ball’s going. He kind of pushes his arm away. He clips the ball as he’s doing it. I think that would be extremely harsh to give a penalty there just because of the proximity. It’s bouncing everywhere. It’s definitely not intentional. If someone is saying to me they believe that he’s intentionally trying to hit the ball down there. They don’t know football.”
Bothroyd’s reading matched Gallagher’s. Anderson was defending himself in a tight space rather than blocking the ball on purpose, which under the handball law is not enough for a penalty.
Final Whistle Verdict
For all the noise around it, the Rob Jones Manchester City Sunderland penalty verdict from Sky’s experts is clear. No spot kick. No VAR error. Gallagher and Bothroyd, two pundits who rarely agree without qualification, both landed on the same conclusion within minutes of watching it back.
That will be cold comfort to Sunderland fans who saw Brobbey’s hat-trick go to waste in a 5-3 defeat. But on the specific handball claim against Anderson, the consensus from Ref Watch is that Rob Jones and Michael Salisbury made the correct call. Full detail on the discussion can be found in Chronicle Live’s Ref Watch summary.
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