Ref Review: Caballero escape for Chelsea; did Man Utd star get lucky?

We look at all the refereeing controversies in the Premier League this weekend, including incidents in the matches at Brighton, Burnley, Leicester, Man City and Southampton.

 

Refereeing decisions are regularly the source of debate among fans, pundits, players and managers so this season a five-strong TEAMtalk panel will be passing judgement on every red card (or avoidance of one), every penalty and any other major incident every matchday.

We’ll also decide on a weekly basis which side can consider themselves lucky and which was the easiest decision for a match official to make.

 

Brighton penalty appeal v Chelsea

The Blues have had some issues with referees in recent weeks but will have no complaints about John Moss, who elected to wave play on when Ezequiel Schelotto went down in the box under a challenge from Willy Caballero at the Amex. Replays suggest he should have pointed to the spot and if he had, Brighton would have been thrown a lifeline when 2-0 down.

Verdict: Incorrect decision

 

Troy Deeney offside v Leicester City

This is a season of fine margins with Deeney’s offside call at the King Power a case in point. He latched onto an Abdoulaye Doucoure flick to smash home a shot from the edge of the area. However the assistant referee already had his flagged raised. In hindsight it was a great call but so tight it really could have gone either way. That will be of no consolation to Marco Silva, who now finds himself out of a job with the Hornets having won only one of their last 11 matches.

Verdict: Correct decision

 

Leicester City penalty v Watford

Jamie Vardy’s extra injection of pace in the area proved too much for Molla Wague, who scythed him down to concede one of the more obvious penalties you will see this season. It was rash, it was clumsy and it was one hundred per cent a spot kick.

Verdict: Correct decision

 

Burnley penalty appeal v Manchester United

A fiercely contested fixture at Turf Moor was settled by another fine strike from Anthony Martial. However Burnley felt they should have had a penalty after Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s header struck Chris Smalling. Mike Dean was having none of it however and waved away the handball appeals.

It moved Jose Mourinho to say afterwards: “I thought Mike Dean and his team were brilliant”. Not sure Sean Dyche will agreed but to be fair to Dean he got this one spot on.

Verdict: Correct decision

 

Manchester City penalty v Newcastle United

Raheem Sterling turned on the jets down the left and was undone by Manquillo’s arm weighing heavily on his back in the area. There was some contact so you can’t grumble too much with the decision but in fairness it was a pretty soft award.

Chelsea fans on Twitter genuinely incredulous afterwards too asking why this was a penalty yet Alvaro Morata was booked for diving after a very similar incident against Norwich in the week?

Verdict: Correct decision

 

James Ward-Prowse challenge on Jan Vertonghen

Contentious incident in the first half at St Mary’s as Ward-Prowse blatantly kicked out at Vertonghen after the Spurs man slid in and stole possession. Ref Kevin Friend seemed to observe this incident, but failed to produce the yellow card which was surely merited on this occasion. To be fair it was one of the few negatives for Ward-Prowse, who put in a Man of the Match performance on the day.

Verdict: Incorrect decision

 

Team most likely to feel brassed off award

Brighton

Having eventually succumbed to a 4-0 defeat it may seem strange putting Brighton forward for this, but had the Seagulls been awarded a penalty after Schelotto was felled by Caballero – and they really should have been – the whole complexion of the game would surely have changed.

 

Stonewall decision of the week

Leicester penalty v Watford

Dreadful challenge by Wague, who was given a torrid time of it by a pumped up Jamie Vardy at the King Power. Interestingly, Wague is the second defender in a week to pull a hamstring chasing Vardy after Gary Cahill limped off at Chelsea. No arguments about the penalty.