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Mike Dean admits he shouldn't have awarded West Brom a penalty against Arsenal

Referee Mike Dean has admitted that he shouldn’t have awarded Albion a penalty during their New Year’s Eve game with Arsenal.

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Mike Dean. (AMA)

Dean pointed to the spot when Kieran Gibbs’s cross hit Calum Chambers’s arm but the two players were close to each other.

It sparked outrage from Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who was given a three-match ban afterwards for complaining.

Even Baggies boss Alan Pardew admitted it probably wasn’t a penalty, and now it’s emerged that Dean himself agrees.

Referees chief Mike Riley revealed that Dean had made the admission in response to questions about the Video Assistant Referee system trialled in tonight's game between Brighton and Crystal Palace.

“You award the penalty because what you have seen on the pitch is the arm coming towards the ball,” Riley told the Daily Express. “What is handball can look to you on the field of play if you get one look at it.

“But immediately there is evidence from another camera angle which shows actually the opposite happened. That is the safety net of the VAR.

"I think Chambers would have been over-turned. The question you ask is, is it an act of deliberate handball? The reverse angle shows him trying to bring his arm out of the way of the ball, rather than the reverse.

“I know Mike would have overturned it. He messages people, and he’s a very honest guy, and he goes, ‘I got it wrong’. He knows he did.”