Howard Webb clears up that Man City vs Tottenham advantage once and for all

The PMGOL’s technical director, Howard Webb, has admitted that referee Simon Hooper made a mistake by not allowing Manchester City to play an advantage in their 3-3 draw against Tottenham two weeks ago. The incident occurred in injury time after Spurs had fought back to level the scores twice in the second half. With the […]

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The PMGOL’s technical director, Howard Webb, has admitted that referee Simon Hooper made a mistake by not allowing Manchester City to play an advantage in their 3-3 draw against Tottenham two weeks ago.

The incident occurred in injury time after Spurs had fought back to level the scores twice in the second half.

With the game poised at 3-3, Erling Haaland was fouled in his own half by Emerson Royal but the striker got up and played a ball over the top of the Tottenham defence to Jack Grealish, who appeared to be in on goal.

However, Hooper blew for a foul on Haaland instead of playing advantage, with the City players apoplectic with the decision.

They continued protesting to the officials after the full-time whistle, with the Norwegian striker overcome with rage as he made his way into the dressing room.

City were later charged by the Football Association for “failing to ensure their players did not behave in a way which was improper” with their reaction (Reuters).

PMGOL admit error in Tottenham vs Man City game

Webb has now admitted that Hooper should not have blown for a foul and should have allowed Pep Guardiola’s men to play on.

He said on the latest episode of Match Officials: Mic’d Up on Sky Sports about the incident: “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 (Erling) 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.”

Spurs Web Opinion

It was a clear error by Hooper and it is good to see the PMGOL owning up to the mistake. However, it was far from a clear goalscoring opportunity as Ben Davies had caught up to Grealish.

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