Sunderland drew 1-1 with Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has given his opinion on why Sunderland weren’t awarded a second-half penalty in their 1-1 draw with Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

Eyebrows were raised at the Stadium of Light when referee Sam Barrott stopped a corner from being taken so that he could book Villa defender Ian Maatsen for holding Dan Ballard in the box.

Since then, there have been queries as to why the official opted to hand out a caution without pointing to the spot, but Gallagher has argued it is because he was trying to lay down a marker while the ball was dead.

What has Dermot Gallagher said about potential Sunderland penalty incident vs Aston Villa?

Speaking on Sky Sports News’ Ref Watch on Monday morning, Gallagher said: “I think he [Barrott] has seen it, and he's just fed up with it. The thing he's doing here is sending out a message, isn't he? A, to Maatsen that, you know, I’m not having that, and B, to the other players. It's, ‘Look, I'm telling you, this is not going to carry on. You've just got to stop it’. And in fairness, we've asked for this, haven't we? We've asked to stop the ones that are not facing the ball.”

Fellow pundit Jay Bothroyd responded: “I mean, the only thing that I would say about this situation is that the referees come in at the beginning of the season to every single club and they explain the threshold of what is a penalty, what is a foul, and what's not. I don't think he should give a warning. I think that's the problem for me. I think he should just let it play. If he's holding it, then give a penalty.

“He shouldn't have to warn players. You know, when you're on the pitch, you don't warn a player and say, ‘If you tackle like that again, you're going to get a yellow card’. You just send them off or give them the yellow card. I think in that situation there, he should just let it play out. If he's holding on to it, give the penalty. Don't warn someone, because the players know the rules of the game.”

Gallagher replied: “I think this is slightly different. At corners, we've seen so much holding. I think the referee there is trying to say, ‘Well, look, this is my threshold. This is where I am’. And he's putting a marker down, isn't he? ‘This is what I'll accept. This is what I won't accept’. I think it wasn't only Maatsen and they got the message there - it was everybody else, because if you watch the next corner, they were watching the ball. So it did work.”

What else was said about Sunderland’s clash with Aston Villa?

The other major refereeing talking point in Sunderland’s draw with Villa was the first half dismissal of Reinildo Mandava, who was shown a straight red card for a kick out at visiting defender Matty Cash.

Assessing that incident, Bothroyd expressed his belief that Barrott had made the correct call. The former striker said: “It's ridiculous, and you can see the frustration. Okay, Matty Cash might have gone in slightly late, but it doesn't warrant that reaction. And as soon as he's kicked up with his legs - you can see it there, he's kicked up - he knows he's getting a red card.

“Everyone knows he's getting a red card. Players, management, everything. He just let himself down there, let the team down. Thankfully, they got a result from it still. I want to give credit to Sunderland, because they could have won the game.”

Your next Sunderland read: 109 fantastic photos of Sunderland fans vs Aston Villa as 10-man Black Cats seal impressive draw - gallery