‘Ref Hooper made an officiating mistake by not playing the advantage in Man City Vs Tottenham game’

Howard Webb, the chief operating officer at PGMOL, the organisation that oversees the League’s match officials says Referee Simon Hooper made an officiating mistake by not playing the advantage in the stoppage time ofthe match between Man City and Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad stadium penultimate weekend.

Referee Hooper initially played the advantage after Erling Haaland was fouled but then blew for a foul after the Norwegian had made his pass to Jack Grealish who was clear on goal.

Webb tells the Premier League official website: “Yeah, it is an officiating mistake, and you’re right, the VAR has no part to play in this. Of course, we’re always looking, as officials, to have that positive influence on the game, by trying to identify occasions when we can allow the game to play through an advantage. And Simon Hooper, the referee on this occasion, is normally good at identifying those things.

“On this particular occasion, he sees a pretty strong, reckless foul challenge by Emerson Royal on Haaland. It’s in midfield, and the ball comes backwards. He does the hard work, he just hesitates a moment to see if an advantage is possible. But he recognises in his mind, thinking it through, that it was a strong challenge, it was reckless, he is going to have to caution.

“At ground level, it’s not quite so easy to see the way that things are playing out as it is from an elevated view. And he decides to penalise just at the moment as the ball’s about to go, he blows the whistle, and then realises that a wonderful advantage was available. And for sure, he was devastated. He’d refereed the game really well for 93 minutes, but he knows this is going to be the only talking point.

“Really close to the end of the game, I understand the disappointment that Manchester City felt on this one, because it would have been a wonderful advantage. He just formed the opinion to blow just at the wrong time. It looked like he was ready to play advantage.

“I said to him afterwards, ‘Just hold your hands up. It’s difficult to be annoyed at a remorseful man. Just show your disappointment in the moment.’ Because he was certainly feeling that at the time.”