Former Premier League ref backs controversial Sheffield Wednesday penalty and Derby County red card

It was a big moment in the game on Sunday as Michael Smith went on to score from the spot, because the moment resulted in Curtis Davies being sent off and ultimately hindered the Rams’ chances of a comeback.

Defeat led to them missing out on a top six spot and ultimately the play-offs this season, and many Derby fans were upset with both the penalty call and the sending off.

Foy, though, doesn’t seem to think there is much controversy in it after all.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said, “In this decision, the referee has concluded that the defending player has pulled back the attacker and therefore denied him an obvious goalscoring opportunity without attempting to play the ball.

“Once a penalty has been awarded, the subsequent disciplinary action must follow - in this case a red card for the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

“There is contact made by the Derby defender on the Sheffield Wednesday attacker and the judgment for the referee is then how impactful that is but, given he is in a very good position to make that call, I can understand why he’s given the penalty kick and the subsequent red card, the latter being because the next action of the attacking player would be to take a shot on goal.”