Officially Speaking – with Keith Hackett
Thursday 26 December Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Referee: Graham Scott
Assistants: Neil Davies, Mark Scholes
Fourth official: Tim Robinson
VAR: Mike Dean
Assistant VAR: Constantine Atsidakos
Harry Kane scored only to have the ‘goal’ ruled out for offside, another one of those very tight calls that are being made with the use of the VAR lines. On this occasion the outcome after the review was a correct one.
Shane Duffy was lucky to escape a yellow card for a reckless challenge from behind on an opponent.
Brighton then took the lead following a free kick awarded for a challenge by Winks that resulted in a yellow card.
Kane then equalised for Tottenham after missing his initial effort from 12 yards.
Winks committed another foul for which he could have received a second yellow card. It was good to see that Referee Scott didn’t overreact and I certainly support his decision to keep his card in his pocket.
Referee Scott can be very satisfied with his solid performance.
The one talking point was a clash where Harry Kane went to ground having come into contact with an opponent’s arm. The award of a free kick was sufficient punishment on this occasion.
Thursday 26 December Aston Villa 1-0 Norwich City
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
Assistants: Sian Massey-Ellis, Adam Nunn
Fourth official: Matt Donohue
VAR: Lee Mason
Assistant VAR: Matthew Wilkes
This was a good performance by Referee Kavanagh who maintained a low profile and made no controversial decisions. My advice to improve his game would be for this referee to work on his dynamic sprinting. There are times when he can become detached from play.
Thursday 26 December Bournemouth 1-1 Arsenal
Referee: Stuart Attwell
Assistants: Daniel Cook, Simon Long
Fourth official: Stephen Martin
VAR: Peter Bankes
Assistant VAR: Simon Beck
It was good to see Referee Attwell beginning to get a run of games in the middle after delivering some good performances.
Bournemouth took the lead after Arsenal had given the ball away with Gosling scoring a good goal. Arsenal then equalised through Aubameyang. Bournemouth thought they had scored a winner which was correctly ruled out for offside. A VAR check confirmed that the decision was sound. Late on in the game Attwell delivered a sustained dynamic sprint to maintain contact with play.
Thursday 26 December Chelsea 0-2 Southampton
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Assistants: Marc Perry, Eddie Smart
Fourth official: Gavin Ward
VAR: Simon Hooper
Assistant VAR: Derek Eaton
When players are on good behaviour, it makes officiating so much easier. Jon Moss delivered a good performance. There was one outstanding decision when Moss was ideally positioned. A Chelsea player was tripped and he judged correctly that the offence was outside the area. This was an excellent decision.
Thursday 26 December Crystal Palace 2-1 West Ham United
Referee: Andre Marriner
Assistants: Harry Lennard, Richard West
Fourth official: Tom Nield
VAR: Andy Madley
Assistant VAR: Andy Garratt.
Referee Marriner showed good movement by moving wide, and he is also prepared to penetrate into the penalty area to secure good viewing angles.
West Ham scored first, with Palace equalising deep into the second half. Palace secured a win through a terrific run by Jordan Ayew, who chipped it over the goalkeeper.
The referee had to intervene to stop a clash between two West Ham players who were clearly unhappy with each other. The West Ham manager must be favourite to lose his job.
Thursday 26 December Everton 1-0 Burnley
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Assistants: Gary Beswick, Scott Ledger
Fourth official: Jeremy Simpson
VAR: Paul Tierney
Assistant VAR: Dan Robathan.
This was the first game for the home team under new manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Burnley’s Taylor was lucky to escape a yellow card for a challenge on his opponent. Eagle-eyed Assistant Referee Scott Ledger was on hand to penalise Everton goalkeeper Pickford for carrying the ball out of his penalty area.
Referee Taylor maintained a low profile throughout and delivered a performance without controversy.
Thursday 26 December Sheffield United 1-1 Watford
Referee: David Coote
Assistants: Peter Kirkup, Nick Hopton
Fourth official: Ben Toner
VAR: Martin Atkinson
Assistant VAR: Stephen Child
This was Referee Coote’s seventh Premier League game of the season and out of his seven appointments he has refereed Sheffield United four times. I do not doubt the ability of the referee, but this level of exposure to one club is unacceptable in my opinion.
Watford opened the scoring with new manager Nigel Pearson. Later in the game, Referee Coote was in a good position to see an offence and correctly awarded a penalty kick to the home team. Sheffield United subsequently had some good chances to win the game, but were unable to convert any of them.
It was a good performance by Referee Coote without any controversial decisions.
Thursday 26 December Manchester United 4-1 Newcastle United
Referee: Kevin Friend
Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Darren Cann
Fourth official: Oliver Langford
VAR: Mike Dean
Assistant VAR: Ian Hussin
Newcastle United opened the scoring, with VAR checking for handball. Following the review, the Referee correctly allowed the goal to stand. However, the Newcastle defenders made mistakes to allow Manchester to take a two–one lead.
In the build up to Manchester’s third goal, a Newcastle player claimed he was fouled by the illegal use of an arm. A quick VAR check correctly stated that no offence had been committed and the goal was allowed.
The home team went on to win by 4-1 and it should have been more. Kevin Friend delivered a good performance without controversy.
Thursday 26 December Leicester City 0-4 Liverpool
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistants: Stuart Burt, Simon Bennett
Fourth official: Craig Pawson
VAR: Paul Tierney
Assistant VAR: Stephen Child.
Referee Oliver is clearly the Premier League’s top referee and in this rather one-sided game he maintained his concentration and work rate. He judged his involvement to perfection and I hope that he will be appointed on a regular basis to these top games.
About Author
