Key Premier League Refereeing Decisions: Gameweek 11

The evening game on Saturday between Queens Park Rangers and Manchester City brought one of the most bizarre incidents of the season so far.

City were awarded a free kick inside their own penalty area. The man in the middle, Mike Dean was positioned on the halfway line. Joe Hart took the kick and seemed to pass it straight to Charlie Austin, who had no hesitation in scoring. A perfectly good goal on first look.

However, Dean disallowed the goal, much to the disappointment of the QPR fans and players. On reflection however, it was a superb decision by the assistant referee who used his microphone to indicate that Hart had touched the ball twice before the ball leaving the area. Law 13 states that the kick must be retaken, so the officials got it spot on.

There was harsh criticism for Dean who it was speculated couldn’t see the double kick. The officials used their communication system perfectly, showing how important they are for making decisions quickly.

Sergio Aguero made it 1-1 after a superb touch to set himself up for the finish. However, QPR claimed a hand ball after the first touch. The ball did hit his hand, but with three defenders around him, the referee and the linesman would have had a near impossible view to make a decision. There’s no doub that the use of the hand helped Aguero control the ball but Dean would have to have been very close to spot it.

Referee Anthony Taylor was placed in charge of Liverpool against Chelsea and had two big decisions to make. Both were claims of handball from Gary Cahill. Both incidents were after shots were fired towards goal. In the first instance, Cahill fell to the ground in a sideways position, but in my view didn’t have his hands in an unnatural position, therefore I feel that Taylor got both decisions correct. The second appeal had more substance, but was not a deliberate hand ball.

Referee Lee Mason was busy throughout the Sunderland’s home match against Everton. Seamus Coleman won a penalty after being brought down by Connor Wickham. It was a definite penalty, although Wickham denied a goalscoring opportunity and somehow avoided even a yellow card, let alone a red. It was an obvious scoring chance for the Irishman and with 15 minutes or so left, being down to 10 men would have changed the game and possibly the outcome.

Tim Howard was involved in an unique incident after coming out for a ball, which stopped outside the box. Howard decided to lay down on the ball and use his side to do so, stopping Steven Fletcher from moving the ball. There is nothing wrong with what Howard did, but it could potentially come under unsporting behavior.

Jordi Gomez should have seen red twice in my opinion. He made an awful tackle on Gareth Barry, which he was booked for. Only to escape a second yellow for a dive in the second half, trying to win a free kick on the edge of the area.

A tough game for Mason, which he managed to control but there were a few errors. Having said that, he has been on the best officials in the league so far this season.