Officially Speaking – with Keith Hackett
REFEREE PERFORMANCE REVIEW WEEK 24 PREMIER LEAGUE
Saturday 13th February
Leicester City v Liverpool Result 3-1
Referee: Anthony Taylor. Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn. Fourth official: Lee Mason. VAR: Stuart Attwell. Assistant VAR: Mark Scholes.
This was Referee Taylors 23rd game of the season having been involved in the following UEFA games season to date:
24/09/20 European Super Cup Bayern Munich v Sevilla
14/10/20 Nations League Italy v Holland
28/10/20 Champions League Club Brugge v Lazio
25/11/20 Champions League Inter v Real Madrid
09/12/20 RB Salzburg v Atl Madrid
16 Premier League games and 1 FA Cup game.
In addition, Taylor is driving himself to games in England and of course is appointed to Fourth Official and VAR duties.
Taylor is an established UEFA Elite referee and is delivering consistent performances in England at the highest level.
He delivered a good performance with Liverpool opening the scoring after a brilliant piece of skill by Firmino passing to Salah.
Taylor was then in a good viewing position to award a penalty to the home team after a careless challenge by the Liverpool offender. VAR Attwell correctly intervened to advise that the foul was outside the area.
Maddison scored and then we had a VAR check for offside but on this occasion, the goal was allowed.
Liverpool’s goalkeeper who has had a terrible week was then guilty of another serious error that gifted a goal to the home team. Leicester City then made it 3-1 with a goal from Ashley Barnes.
Well done to the team of officials who delivered a particularly good performance.
CRYSTAL PALACE V BURNLEY Result 0-3
Referee: Michael Oliver. Assistants: Stuart Burt, Simon Bennett. Fourth official: David Coote. VAR: Jarred Gillett. Assistant VAR: Timothy Wood.
This was Michael Oliver’s 27th game of the season reflecting how well is season is going both here in England and overseas in Europe. Like Taylor, he is on the UEFA Elite panel. Here are his appointments to date:
06/09/20 Nations League Switzerland v Germany
22/09/20 Champions League Tel Aviv v R B Salzburg
14/10/20 Nations League Russia v Hungary
21/10/20 Champions League Bayern Munich v Atletico Madrid
4/11/20 Champions League Barcelona v Dynamo Kiev
17/11/20 Nations League Croatia v Portugal
24/11/20 Champions League Lazio v Zenit
18 Premier League games 2 FA Cup games plus VAR and 4th official roles.
Our two top referees are in great demand and managing their fitness, recovery programmes are important.
Oliver delivered a game without controversy, allowing play to flow and adopting a low-key approach. Burnley overcame the home team with some ease.
MANCHESTER CITY V TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR RESULT 3-0
Referee: Paul Tierney. Assistants: Lee Betts, Ian Hussin. Fourth official: Craig Pawson. VAR: Peter Bankes. Assistant VAR: Neil Davies.
Paul Tierney performed well in this game. He allowed the game to breathe with minimum interference.
City opened the scoring following the award of a penalty kick after a careless challenge by the Spurs defender. VAR confirmed that Tierney’s call was correct.
In the second half, Manchester City’s Gundogan scored a brace of goals to earn an easy win over Spurs.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION V ASTON VILLA RESULT 0-0
Referee: Darren England. Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Peter Kirkup. Fourth official: Graham Scott. VAR: Martin Atkinson. Assistant VAR: Darren Cann.
Darren England is performing well and this was his seventh Premier League game of the season. He has earned the right to be appointed to more games following a run of good performances.
His mobility around the field of play is first class and with it, he finds himself in good positions to gain good viewing angles. This leads to accurate decision making.
This game passed without incident.
SUNDAY 14TH FEBRUARY
SOUTHAMPTON V WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS Result 1-2
Referee: Graham Scott. Assistants: Darren Cann, Mark Scholes. Fourth official: Darren England. VAR: Martin Atkinson. Assistant VAR: Constantine Hatzidakis.
This was an important win for Wolves. The game turned in the 52nd minute when referee Graham Scott pointed to the penalty mark, judging that Ryan Bertrand’s use of his arm to block Nelson Semedo’s shot was illegal.
The defender was rightly judged to have handled by extending his left arm to make the body unnaturally bigger.
Later in the game, Southampton players appealed for a penalty kick. After a closer look at the incident, it showed the ball appeared to strike the player on the shoulder.
WEST BROMWICH ALBION V MANCHESTER UNITED Result 1-1
Referee: Craig Pawson. Assistants: Harry Lennard, Richard West. Fourth official: Jarred Gillett. VAR: Jonathan Moss. Assistant VAR: Marc Perry.
Diagne of West Brom opened the scoring with a terrific header for the home team. Bruno Fernandes scored an equaliser just before half time.
Referee Pawson took around five seconds to determine that he was awarding a penalty kick for what he saw was a foul on Harry Maguire. He reviewed the pitch side monitor and reversed his decision. I was surprised that VAR did not intervene on the grounds of finding that Maguire was offside.
ARSENAL V LEEDS UNITED Result 4-2
Referee: Stuart Attwell. Assistants: Dan Cook, Simon Long. Fourth official: Simon Hooper. VAR: Andre Marriner. Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis.
Arsenal opened the scoring through Aubameyang in the 13th minute. Later in the game, Referee Attwell pointed to the penalty mark from a good position. However, a VAR check saw the request for Attwell to view the monitor. The replays showed that no foul had taken place and Attwell overturned his decision.
Within minutes of the earlier incident, the Leeds United goalkeeper fouled his opponent and another penalty kick to Arsenal was awarded. This time there was no intervention required by VAR.
Aubameyang went on to score a hattrick and the home team scoring a fourth.
Leeds United scored two goals in a ten-minute spell and looked for a penalty kick when Bamford was squeezed off the ball by two Arsenal defenders. I certainly believed that this was a foul and that a penalty kick should have been awarded. This was the only blot on Referee Attwell’s performance today and might have expected some intervention by VAR.
EVERTON V FULHAM Result 0-2
Referee: Andy Madley. Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Simon Beck. Fourth official: Tony Harrington. VAR: Kevin Friend. Assistant VAR: Eddie Smart.
This was another solid performance from Andy Madley who surely must receive more regular appointments. He covers the ground easily thanks to his wide stride pattern.
Fulham’s Maja scored a brace of goals giving the away team a well-deserved win.
Everton did score but it was correctly ruled out for offside.
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