2022/23 PL Season – Matchweek 7 – Refereeing matters and referee repeats

by Andrew Crawshaw

What did we learn from the referees in Matchweek 6

Manchester United v Arsenal – With a Mancunian Referee and a Mancunian VAR referee it really was no surprise that the officiating was lopsided.  We dominated the game for large parts but weren’t clinical enough with our finishing and the refereeing decisions went against us all game.

  • Minute 2 Martinez for United sets the tone of their game plan with a robust challenge on Jesus, who visibly says WOW as he got back to his feet – no card of course.
  • McTominay also given free licence to foul.
  • Minute 12 an excellent move by Arsenal led to a fantastic goal by Martinelli.  The Mancunian VAR official invented a foul by Ødegaard in the buildup and persuaded the Mancunian referee to overturn his original decision and disallow the goal.
  • Min 47 Fernandes with a high foot – I thought that was an automatic red card a couple of years ago, guess that’s another rule that isn’t enforced by the PGMO.
  • Min 53 no penalty awarded after Saka taken out in the box.

Chelsea v West Ham – A diabolical decision right at the end of the game robbed West Ham of an equalising goal.  The Chelsea keeper failed to hold a shot by Thilo Kehrer which was then struck into the net by Maxwell Cornet.  Thilo’s momentum carried him over the keeper who he attempted to hurdle but his trailing foot just caught the keeper who reacted as though he had been shot.  The West Ham manager was incensed and I fully understand his reaction: he was robbed.

Newcastle v Crystal Palace – Another wrong decision by the VAR team who ruled out a Newcastle goal for a foul on the Palace keeper by Joe Willock completely ignoring the fact that Joe was clearly pushed in the back by a Palace defender propelling him into the keeper.  Newcastle very aggrieved by that decision and rightly so.

Aston Villa v Man City – Coutinho goal: disallowed for offside, something of a contentious decision, yes, he came back from an offside position but there was a deflection by a defender which arguably would negate the offside.  Another decision going the way of the big-money team.

IIWGX moments of the week (If it were Granit Xhaka)

McTominay and Maguire both being allowed to remain on the pitch despite a number of tackles that should have cut short their games

Who is on duty this coming weekend

Matchweek 7 – Saturday/Sunday/Monday

Match Referee Assistant Referees 4th Official VAR referee Assistant VAR Referee
Sat 12:30
Fulham

v

Chelsea

David Coote Nick Hopton

Timothy Wood

Robert Jones Stuart Attwell Darren Cann
Sat 15:00
Bournemouth

v

Brighton

Chris Kavanagh Dan Cook

Dan Robathan

James Bell Andre Marriner Scott Ledger
Leicester

v

Aston Villa

Jarred Gillett Simon Long

Richard West

Peter Bankes Mike Dean Mark Scholes
Liverpool

v

Wolves

Andy Madley Derek Eaton

Steve Meredith

Tony Harrington John Brooks Natalie Aspinall
Southampton

v

Brentford

Thomas Bramall Adrian Holmes

Wade Smith

Simon Hooper Michael Salisbury Neil Davies
Sat 17:30
Man City

v

Spurs

Michael Oliver Stuart Burt

Simon Bennett

Darren England Paul Tierney Marc Perry
Sun 14:00
Arsenal

v

Everton

Simon Hooper James Mainwaring

Mark Scholes

Thomas Bramall Mike Dean Dan Cook
Sun 14:00
West Ham

v

Newcastle

Craig Pawson Marc Perry

Scott Ledger

Anthony Taylor Paul Tierney Adam Nunn
Sun 16:30
Crystal Palace

v

Man United

Stuart Attwell Lee Betts

Harry Lennard

Robert Jones Chris Kavanagh Dan Robathan
Monday 20:00
Leeds

v

Notts Forest

Anthony Taylor Gary Beswick

Adam Nunn

Paul Tierney Mike Dean Timothy Wood

The Curse of the Repeating Referee

I have now had enough time to fully check which referees have been appointed to which clubs this year and the number of repeat visits is rapidly mounting.

Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver have been the busiest overall each having been on whistle duty six weeks out of seven.

When it comes to VAR officials, Mike Dean has been on call 9 times, Lee Mason 8 times and Paul Tierney 7.

Man United have had repeat visits from two referees –  Paul Tierney and Stuart Attwell so only five different referees in seven games.

The following clubs have had repeat visits from one referee

  • Leicester – Jarred Gillet
  • Liverpool – Andy Madley
  • Man City – Michael Oliver
  • Wolves – John Brooks NB he has only been given the nod in three games so far so why has he been to Wolves twice!

I’ll try and do a full breakdown of who has done what after the officials are announced for matchweek 9 the quarter point in the season.

2 Replies to “2022/23 PL Season – Matchweek 7 – Refereeing matters and referee repeats”

  1. Regarding the Aston Villa “goal” against M¤n€y¢h€$t€r ¢it€h: The linesman put his flag up because a player collected a misplaced pass from a colleague, running back from an offside position. However, he was not offside as replays showed. But you missed the other bit. The pass wasn’t played forwards, it was sideways, angling backwards slightly, so even had he been in an offside position when the ball was played, it still shouldn’t have been given offside!!

  2. I see we have Dastardly Dean in charge of VAR against Everton. We shall have to spank them to win.

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