Officially Speaking – with Keith Hackett
Everton opened the scoring after only 4 minutes and Southampton put up a good response.
Everton’s Mina used his arm to push opponent out of the penalty area and over the goal line. There was no intervention by the VAR, who I felt should have requested a review by the referee by using the pitch-side monitor if it was in use.
Sadly, a penalty kick that should have been awarded to Southampton was not awarded.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Sheffield United
Referee: Graham Scott, VAR: Jonathan Moss
Games to date: 7, Yellow cards 19, Red cards 3.
I was disappointed that Sheffield United’s first ‘goal’ was ruled out for offside.
I do not believe that the technology to come up with these super-tight offside calls is accurate enough. We do need to see a change in law now that VAR is in operation now, in order to improve the quality of the decision in these tight offside calls.
The camera speeds need to match the ones used to determine whether the ball went over the line in goal-line technology. That speed is 500 frames per second.
Leicester City vs Arsenal
Referee: Chris Kavanagh, VAR: Stuart Attwell
Games to date: 9, Yellow cards 33, Red cards 0.
Leicester City are in top form and are playing some terrific football. Arsenal on the other hand, look disjointed.
VAR was called upon to check what was a clear pull back on an opponent by an Arsenal player.
This was an easy penalty-kick decision for both the Assistant referee and the VAR. However they amazingly said NO PENALTY!
This was yet another intervention by VAR and a big error.
The referee needs to improve his dynamic sprinting; he lacks this and becomes detached from play and this then leaves him exposed to error.
Sunday 10th November
Manchester United vs Brighton and Hove Albion
Referee: Jonathan Moss, VAR: Peter Bankes
Games to date: 8, Yellow cards 28, Red cards 2.
VAR referee Peter Banes was appointed to his second VAR appointment in two days. He had previously been the VAR for the Newcastle United vs Bournemouth match on Saturday afternoon.
The game had a number of VAR interventions and Peter Bankes was spot on with his decisions, supporting Jonathan Moss who on the day, delivered a good performance.
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Aston Villa
Referee: Anthony Taylor, VAR: Chris Kavanagh
Games to date: 10, Yellow cards 42, Red cards 1.
A mature and sound performance by referee Anthony Taylor whose game management was excellent.
I could not fault the execution of his yellow cards. The VAR checked two of Taylor’s ‘no penalty-kick’ decisions with the minimum of fuss and they confirmed that Taylor was correct.
The VAR for this match was Chris Kavanagh, who refereed the Leicester City vs Arsenal game on Saturday. This was not the best of preparations!
Liverpool vs Manchester City
Referee: Michael Oliver, VAR: Paul Tierney
Games to date: 9, Yellow cards 32, Red cards 0.
The VAR Paul Tierney was of course the referee for the Southampton vs Everton game on Saturday and after a drive to Stockley Park, was sat in front of a screen to oversee things as VAR.
I will get to the point in that Michael Oliver was ideally positioned early on in the game to turn down Manchester City;s appeals for a penalty kick; the ball was cleared and Liverpool went on the break and scored.
There was massive pressure on the VAR to review the incident and my first viewing was handball and to award a penalty-kick. The replays confirmed my first opinion and I waited for the penalty-kick to be awarded.
To my amazement, and that of many, the VAR said NO PENALTY-KICK. This was another VAR error, it was a clear handball and should have resulted in Liverpool’s goal being ruled out and the award of a penalty-kick.
The Liverpool player made his body shape larger by holding out his hand/arm. (The hand/arm is the full length of the arm up to the join of the shirt sleeve) whilst Silva’s (of Manchester City) hand touched the ball, but it was not an offence.
Handling the ball (Law 12)
It is an offence if a player:
* Deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm including moving the hand/arm towards the ball
* Gains possession/control of the ball after it has touched their hand/arm
* Scores in the opponent’s goal
* Creates a goal-scoring opportunity
* Scores in the opponent’s goal directly from their hand/arm even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper
* Touches the ball with their hand/arm when the hand/arm has made their body unnaturally bigger
www.theifab.com is where you can find the full transcript of the Laws of the Game.
Silva’s involvement. therefore given the incident, can be ruled out in line with PGMOL comment on Match of the Day 2 presenters.
Then Liverpool appealed for a penalty-kick and on this occasion, the VAR said no penalty-kick.
We also had a tight offside decision with the system declaring that the Manchester City player was onside.
Keith Hackett
www.keystoreferee.com
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