Lloris tripped Welbeck: Dean was spot on to give United their penalty equaliser

By Graham Poll

PUBLISHED: 18:09 EST, 1 December 2013 | UPDATED: 18:09 EST, 1 December 2013

Mike Dean made a superb decision when he awarded Manchester United their equalising penalty.

Though the incident came from a quick counter-attack, Dean was perfectly positioned to see that Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had not touched the ball but had tripped Danny Welbeck.

At full speed, commentators and observers were not prepared to commit as to whether Dean was right or not, but a close up replay showed what a good decision it was.

Contact: Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris brings down Manchester United's Danny Welbeck

Contact: Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris brings down Manchester United's Danny Welbeck

Right call: Mike Dean awarded a penalty, rightly so, although commentators were slow to agree

Right call: Mike Dean awarded a penalty, rightly so, although commentators were slow to agree

Raging: Spurs players protest after Dean points to the spot, but he wasn't changing his mind

Raging: Spurs players protest after Dean points to the spot, but he wasn't changing his mind

Lloris was perhaps unwise to rush out and the yellow card was correct as Welbeck was not heading directly towards goal. 

Wayne Rooney went on to convert the penalty, sending Lloris to his left and blasting the ball down the middle to level the match at 2-2 in the 57th minute.

Smashed: Wayne Rooney drills the spot kick down the middle as Lloris picks a side

Smashed: Wayne Rooney drills the spot kick down the middle as Lloris picks a side

Saviour: Rooney's successful penalty pulled the scores back level at 2-2, which is how the match ended

Saviour: Rooney's successful penalty pulled the scores back level at 2-2, which is how the match ended

 

More...

Comments (101)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

Graham Poll ! You can take the ref out of Manchester, but you can't take Manchester Utd out of the ref !! Just come clean Graham !

8
20
 Click to rate

im a united fan and i think far too many soft penalties like this are given

5
22
 Click to rate

im no united fan....but that was a clear pen its not even up for debate.

22
13
 Click to rate

He gave the penalty before it was called for

9
22
 Click to rate

Well done Graham Poll.. Just do your job.. Don't bother about others. The FA knows better.

8
9
 Click to rate

Lloris went to ground... made no contact with the ball... but he did make contact with Welbeck who then went to ground. Those are the facts, I'd say it was a penalty, from an Arsenal fan here.

9
2
 Click to rate

stone wall penalty anybody think otherwise then you need a trip to specsavers! Not a fan of either side so neutral point of view here.

34
26
 Click to rate

did the keeper touch the ball?

2
13
 Click to rate

dean has bionic eyes oh god the softest of the softest penalty and make no mistake the author is a man u fan

23
33
 Click to rate

Poll is wrong - Wellbeck was not tripped by the goalie. he deliberately tripped over the goalie's arm with his trailing leg - in otherwords he dived. The ref didn't even give himself time to think, poiting staright to the spot so desperate was he to give the penalty. I had thought refs would stop doing thos now ferguson had left but alas not

40
65
 Click to rate

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now