Reviewing The Premier League's Key Refereeing Decisions From Week 4

The Premier League returned this weekend after the international break, and there were plenty of talking points in terms of incidents and decisions.

Starting at The Emirates in the early kick off, Jack Wilshere was involved in a handball claim from numerous Manchester City players. Mark Clattenburg was in a position where he could not see the ball, but his assistant had a much better, but still not perfect view of the midfielder’s hand ball. There is no doubting that the ball touched his hand, which would have resulted in a penalty for the away side, which potentially could have altered the result. I can however, sympathise with the officials as the positioning of the players did not make the decision easy to make.

Staying with the 2-2 draw at The Emirates, Manuel Pellegrini was left frustrated with Mark Clattenburg’s decision to allow Alexis Sanchez’s goal stand, after a disputed push on Vincent Kompany. My view on this incident is that Clattenburg was correct to allow play to continue. There was contact, but if referees are going to award free kicks for slight contact all the time, managers will complain at how stop start games are. Its hard to keep everybody happy as a referee, and games need to flow to produce the best football, which is what football fans want to see, especially in the big games.

Philippe Senderos was involved in numerous incidents with Mario Balotelli during Aston Villa’s 1-0 victory at Anfield, all of which were off the ball. There was one in particular which was unprofessional by the Swiss defender. Balotelli was holding his position until Senderos kicked the Italian to the floor. This could have easily been deemed to have been violent conduct by Lee Mason, however, having not seen the incident, Senderos could be in hot water if the FA decide to act. It can also be seen as unsporting behaviour, but yellow cards can not be awarded after the game.

Neil Warnock made his return to Selhurst Park against Burnley in a 0-0 draw. Burnley had the chance to clinch all three points though after Mile Jedinak dragged Lukas Jutkiewicz. Great spot by Mike Dean and the penalty was correctly awarded. Palace could have had a penalty of their own however, when Michael Duff handled the ball in the area. Definite penalty in my opinion, as the arm was in an un-natural position. There is a big difference between an arm beside the body and an arm raised to shoulder height, which was where Duff’s hand was positioned.

Louis van Gaal earned his first Manchester United win on Sunday, with a convincing 4-0 win over last season’s play-off final winners, QPR. There was a claim for a penalty late on in the first half when captain Clint Hill brought down Ander Herrera. Phil Dowd did not award a free kick or a penalty for the foul, which looked fairly obvious. The only question mark for me, is whether the contact was inside the box. Replays confirmed that it was inside the box, therefore a penalty should have been awarded.