The Premier League season has not been a smooth ride for PGMOL’s PR department, with officials at the top level making a series of high-profile mistakes.
This has led to a previously unprecedented level of criticism, with PGMOL chief Howard Webb being forced to apologize on numerous occasions.
While the implementation of VAR remains a hot-button issue, particularly among match-going fans, the recent example involving Haaland has highlighted that technology is not the only problem facing current referees.
“Wtf.” That was Erling Haaland’s take on referee Simon Hooper’s failure to play advantage after he’d threaded Jack Grealish through deep into second-half stoppage against Tottenham on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium.
Initially, it looked like Hooper had waved the play on after Emerson Royal clattered into Haaland just inside the City half.
However, just as Grealish was scampering through on goal, the official blew up, sparking explosive – and meme-spawning – reactions from the City players.
Haaland’s X post, which voiced bewilderment at the decision, has been liked almost 500,000 times and more.
The reception of the Norwegian’s outrage is indicative of the feeling around Premier League refereeing currently
READ ALSO: https://thecrux.org.ng/erling-haaland-faces-fa-charge-after-blasting-referee-simon-hooper/
- October 28, 2023: Wolves 2-2 Newcastle
During the match between Newcastle and Wolves back in October, Anthony Taylor awarded a penalty to Newcastle right on the stroke of half-time after Hwang Hee-chan appeared to kick through Callum Wilson in the Wolves box.
Despite the penalty decision being reviewed by VAR, the replays showed only minimal contact.
However, Taylor was not sent to screen, and Wilson converted from 12 yards. Wolves eventually grabbed an equalizer, but they felt that they deserved more.
“It was a scandalous decision,” manager Gary O’Neil said after the game. “It was a terrible on-field decision, and terrible that VAR didn’t intervene, so I thought they got it badly wrong.”
- September 2, 2023: Man City 5-1 Fulham
Some might dismiss this incident as irrelevant, but it was still an injustice.
With the scores level at 1-1, Nathan Ake’s header went towards Manuel Akanji, who was standing in an offside position.
Akanji quickly moved his legs out of the way, and the ball eventually trickled past Fulham’s goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Leno was incensed that the offside flag wasn’t raised, and the decision surprisingly survived a VAR review, with City going on to win the game.
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- August 19, 2023: Liverpool 3-1 Bournemouth
In another instance, Alexis Mac Allister was shown a red card by Thomas Bramall, leaving the Argentine stunned.
The tackle, which was a studs-up challenge on Ryan Christie, was not brilliant, but it was difficult to see how it met the criteria required for a straight dismissal.
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The incident did not affect the outcome, but an independent FA panel later rescinded Mac Allister’s suspension.
READ ALSO: https://thecrux.org.ng/epl-var-mishaps-in-the-2023-2024-premier-league-season/
- November 28, 2023: Fulham 3-2 Wolves
“You can send me flowers, you can ring me tomorrow, you can do what you want – but we should be on 22 points instead of 15,” O’Neil said as the dust settled on his Wolves side’s 3-2 defeat to Fulham.
During the Wolves and Fulham game, referee Michael Salisbury admitted that he had made a mistake by awarding a penalty to Fulham after Nelson Semedo tackled Tom Cairney in the penalty area.
Tim Ream also seemed to avoid a second yellow card for a push on Hwang, while Carlos Vinicius’ clash with Max Kilman could have seen him dismissed for violent conduct.
- October 21, 2023: Liverpool 2-0 Everton
The Merseyside Derby did not disappoint in terms of drama, with Ashley Young being sent off for two fouls on Liverpool’s Luis Diaz.
However, some felt that Liverpool should have been reduced to 10 players as well.
Sean Dyche believed that Ibrahim Konate should have been sent off after cynically dragging Beto back when Everton was threatening to counter.
“How they didn’t have [a red card] is an impossibility of football,” Dyche said after the game.
- October 8, 2023: Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City
Mateo Kovacic’s behaviour during the City and Arsenal game was questionable.
He clattered into Martin Odegaard from behind, avoiding a yellow card after a VAR check. Minutes later, he careened into Declan Rice, but referee Michael Oliver did not even hand out a caution.
Kovacic was eventually substituted, and Arsenal won the game.
- November 4, 2023: Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal
The match between Arsenal and Newcastle was filled with controversy.
Before the principal flashpoint involving Anthony Gordon’s winner, there were several contentious decisions, with Kai Havertz avoiding a red card for a wild lunge, and Bruno Guimaraes not being punished for an elbow on Jorginho.
There were three separate decisions for the referee and VAR to make, with suspicions that the ball had gone out, Joelinton had fouled Gabriel Magalhaes, and Gordon had been offside.
The latter was straightforward enough, but there were significant grey areas for the first two, causing Mikel Arteta to express his frustration in a post-match interview.
“Embarrassing, it’s an absolute disgrace, that’s what it is: a disgrace,” he infamously ranted at full time. “There’s so much at stake, we’ve put in so many hours to compete at the highest level and you cannot imagine the amount of messages we’ve had saying this cannot continue. It’s embarrassing”
- August 14, 2023: Manchester United 1-0 Wolves
On the opening day of the Premier League, Simon Hooper, a referee, made a controversial decision that set the tone for the rest of the season.
In a match between Manchester United and Wolves, an impressive Wolves side were denied a last-minute equalizer due to Hooper’s failure to award a penalty when Andre Onana collided with Sasa Kalajdzic.
Even VAR Michael Salisbury was uninterested in reviewing the incident, allowing Manchester United to secure a narrow 1-0 win.
PGMOL had to apologize for the incident after the match.
- September 30, 2023: Tottenham 2:1 Liverpool
The VAR officials tasked with checking the on-field decision wrongly assumed that the assistant referee had not raised the offside flag, disallowing Luis Diaz’s goal.
Liverpool had already been reduced to 10 men and would go on to have another player dismissed before Spurs scored a late winner.
This decision only added to Liverpool’s frustration.
Following the incident, PGMOL released the audio and footage of the mix-up.
The buildup of tension in the audio and video is like that of a horror movie, leading up to Darren England and Dan Cook realizing they have made a serious mistake, and there is nothing they can do to correct it.
The argument against VAR was strengthened by this single incident, and it remains one of the most controversial incidents in Premier League history.
