Coombs there were three aspects to the action
- Kevin comes into contact with Saka’s knee
- Kevin touches the ball
- Kevin’s follow through then more clearly wipes Saka out
I think it’s generally accepted Taylor initially gave the foul for the last aspect.
It appears that he didn’t notice 2, the touch on the ball. That is why VAR have said it was a clear and obvious error, because the ref has missed contact that would affect the decision making process.
However it’s now clear there was earlier contact on Saka’s knee (1) that some are claiming signifies a foul on Saka before Kevin makes contact with the ball (2) and which justifies a penalty.
I think Awooga is saying it matters whether Taylor gave a penalty for 1 or 3. To me it can’t have been 1 because the touch on the ball is then irrelevant.
It seems like there’s a spectrum of views on how much man to man contact constitutes a foul in the box, and how much ball contact is allowable before a foul can be called.
My view is the minor contact of the ball on 2 is not significant enough to justify wiping a player out; and wouldn’t be anywhere that tackle occurs on the pitch.
