Keith Hackett hails Jarred Gillett as MOTD dub footage of Wolves vs Chelsea incident ‘soft’
Keith Hackett has insisted that Jarred Gillett was right to award Chelsea a second penalty against Wolves for Yerson Mosquera’s push on Joao Pedro.
The former PGMOL chief has exclusively told Football Insider that the Australian official delivered a fine performance at Molineux and made the correct call after Mosquera initially seemed to have committed the foul outside of the penalty area.
Chelsea cruised past Wolves with a 3-1 away win on Saturday to stay hot on Man United’s heels in the race for Champions League qualification.
They went ahead in the 13th minute through Cole Palmer‘s penalty following Matt Doherty’s foul on Pedro, while he then doubled their lead from the spot after Mosquera shoved the Brazilian striker.
Palmer bagged his fourth Premier League hat-trick before the break, and Tolu Arokodare’s second-half strike was not enough for Championship-bound Wolves to get back into the game.
Yerson Mosquera was penalised for a push on Joao Pedro
Mosquera handed Palmer a chance to bag his brace in the 34th minute as he shoved an onrushing Pedro after he had just latched onto a long pass on the edge of Wolves’ penalty area.
Referee Gillett instantly pointed to the spot for a second time in the first half, and replays showed that the shove was just on the outer line of the box, so VAR upheld his on-field decision.
Sky Sports pundit Kris Boyd slammed Mosquera live on air following the penalty incident, saying he had “no idea” why the Old Gold centre-back had committed a needless offence.
Wolves boss Rob Edwards had no complaints about either penalty decision in his post-match interviews, instead criticising both Doherty and Mosquera for their “ludicrous” mistakes that gave them a hill to climb early on.
Hackett insists that Gillett was right to give Chelsea their second spot-kick
Hackett has previously praised Gillett for his performances as a referee in the Premier League this season, with this now his fifth campaign officiating in the top flight since being promoted to the Select Group list in 2021.
Match of the Day commentator Mark Scott dubbed it “soft”, but speaking exclusively with Football Insider, the former PGMOL boss insisted that the 39-year-old had made the correct call when deeming Mosquera’s push on Pedro to be a Chelsea penalty.
He said: “At last a referee who recognises and has the courage to make the correct decision.
“This was a clear push, and referee Jarred Gillett, who delivered yet another top-class performance, was spot on.“