Man City were denied the chance to score a late winner when Simon Hooper blew up for a foul on Erling Haaland with Jack Grealish in behind the Spurs defence, having initially allowed play to go on; Hooper was stood down after failing to award Wolves a penalty at Man Utd in August
Monday 4 December 2023 12:39, UK
Referee Simon Hooper will be in charge of Liverpool's game at Sheffield United on Wednesday, despite his error in Manchester City's 3-3 draw with Tottenham.
It has been accepted that it was human error that saw Hooper call back a Manchester City advantage towards the end of Sunday's game.
Hooper initially allowed the game to continue after Erling Haaland was fouled, but then blew his whistle as Jack Grealish received the ball 40 yards from goal in behind the Spurs defence.
Hooper was stood down earlier this season after failing to award a penalty to Wolves in their 1-0 defeat at Manchester United for a challenge by Andre Onana on Sasa Kalajdzic in stoppage time.
Referee Hooper felt the wrath of the Etihad Stadium crowd at the full-time whistle, with Haaland remonstrating with the officials before storming down the tunnel.
The Man City striker later posted, "Wtf", on social media in response to a clip of the incident. This is a written abbreviation which includes a swear word.
Speaking on Ref Watch, former Premier League official Dermot Gallagher said: "It's difficult because this is a lad who I'd say plays advantage more than anybody. He quite rightly plays on and for whatever reason Simon then blows up.
"If he'd have waited a second later the whole landscape changes. Technically, by law he hasn't done anything wrong. It is the ref's choice to play advantage, not anybody else."
Sky Sports pundits Micah Richards and Roy Keane criticised the referee for his decision
"The evidence is there for all to see, he should have let play go on," said Richards. "You can see on the fourth official's face, he knows the referee has made the mistake. How can you explain it?"
Keane added: "The referee has made a mistake. It's a poor call, he's got it wrong.
"Grealish is through on goal and credit to him, he played advantage. But he's got that [the decision to bring it back] wrong. We can all see that."
Bernardo Silva feels Manchester City suffered a "very, very bad" decision against Tottenham but admits the team also need to do their own job better.
"It is a bad decision and everyone saw it," said the Portuguese midfielder. "But at the end we are all humans.
"The referee probably is the first one to know it was a very, very bad decision because he (Grealish) was one on one with the keeper and it could have given us the three points.
"It is a tough one to take, but in the end it is what it is, it's football, and sometimes people make mistakes."
