[DOGSO] A red card for stopping a counter-attack, with the referee judging whether the offence was inside or outside the penalty area

There are three points to look at in this scene. 1. The referee's running Although this was close to the end of the match, the referee kept up with Hiroshima's counter-attack with excellent running and made the final decision from there. That in itself is outstanding. 2. Judging whether the offence was inside or outside the penalty area Whether an offence is inside or outside the penalty area is very important, because it changes the restart. Looking back at this incident, the Hiroshima player who was brought down ends up falling inside the penalty area. The restart, however, is determined by the place where the contact occurred, and here the contact took place outside the penalty area, after which the player fell inside it. Restarting with a free kick outside the penalty area was therefore the correct decision. The referee signalled a free kick at the moment they blew the whistle, which shows that they judged instantly that the offence had occurred outside the penalty area. Immediately after the whistle, the referee can also be seen speaking to the assistant referee over the communication system. It is likely that they were making sure the two of them agreed on whether the offence was inside or outside the penalty area. Even in a match with a video assistant referee (VAR), the process requires a decision to be reached on the field first. The referee and the assistant referee arrived at a shared understanding before the final decision was determined, and the scene shows an excellent process being followed. 3. Whether this was DOGSO in the first place Watching the footage again, a Gamba Osaka player is in a position running alongside, and the question is whether the cover would have arrived in time. Of the considerations for DOGSO, it appears to be the location and number of defenders and attackers that is relevant to this incident. On that basis, the judgement that this was DOGSO is entirely understandable. At the same time, there will be people who watch this scene and consider that it was not DOGSO. This is an area where opinions differ between match officials and between viewers, and it makes for a scene very much worth debating.