Here are the 10 shocking blunders even refs’ chiefs couldn’t defend
Premier League officials will face another scrutiny on Saturday after last weekend’s latest VAR mess.
Tottenham were lucky and Brighton were robbed when a penalty was not awarded for a clear foul on Seagull’s Kaoru Mitoma – even after a check by Stockley Park’s finest.
Referee body PGMOL later admitted they were wrong, the 10th decision they have either publicly apologized for this season or admitted was wrong after an interim review in December.
And they have cost clubs dearly. If these wrongly disallowed goals had been left standing – and these wrongly awarded penalties hadn’t been scored – Arsenal would have a healthier lead at the top of the table, Brighton would be chasing the Spurs and Nottingham Forest would be out of the league. are bottom three.
Here are the 10 incidents and what the table might look like if they were named correctly.
Palace 3-1 Aston Villa, August
Aston Villa’s then-boss Steven Gerrard defended his left-back after Lucas Digne’s unintentional ‘handball’ was penalized with a penalty at 1-1.
Wilfried Zaha saw his kick saved by future World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez, but the striker fired into the lead on the rebound to make it 2-1 and send Palace on their way to victory early in the season.
Crystal Palace received a helping hand from officials on their way to beating Crystal Palace
Chelsea 2-1 West Ham, Sept
A Jarrod Bowen deficit was judged sufficient to rule out a West Ham equalizer
David Moyes was furious when his side were denied a late equalizer at Stamford Bridge by Andy Madley.
Maxwell Cornet’s goal was disallowed as Jarrod Bowen’s boot hit an already sensitive Edouard Mendy.
Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton, February
Brighton regretfully accepted a PGMOL apology after VAR John Brooks drew offside lines on the wrong player when he disallowed a Pervis Estupinan goal against rivals, giving them a victory.
The Seagulls have made a few key decisions this season that could affect their hopes of a European finish in May.
Brighton received an apology from PGMOL in February when offside lines were drawn for the wrong player
Nottingham Forest 2-2 Brentford, Nov
Steve Cooper called for consistency after his goalkeeper Dean Henderson was ruled foul of Yoane Wissa in the penalty area.
Bryan Mbeumo scored the penalty to equalize for Brentford, and Forest had to use an equalizer in the 96th minute to ensure they got something out of the game.
Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper was furious when Dean Henderson was convicted of fouling Yoane Wissa
Newcastle 2-1 Wolves, March
Julien Lopetegui pulled no punches after Newcastle’s Nick Pope somehow avoided a red card and penalty for a foul on striker Raul Jimenez with the score at 0-0.
The decision seemed obvious, with the two players colliding as the ball went out of play and no whistle was blown.
The VAR supported the decision on the field, much to everyone’s surprise…
Nick Pope somehow avoided punishment after taking down Raul Jimenez against Wolves
Newcastle 0-0 Crystal Palace, Sept
…but Toon legend Alan Shearer led the complaints because they were unlucky here.
Tyrick Mitchell’s decisive own goal was disallowed by referee Michael Salisbury as Newcastle’s Joe Willock collided with goalkeeper Vicente Guaita – after being shoved into the Spaniard by Mitchell!
Alan Shearer was left furious when a home goal against Crystal Palace was disallowed
Fulham 3-0 Aston Villa, October
Douglas Luiz’s red card, after a scuffle with Aleksandar Mitrovic, was withdrawn.
Referee Michael Oliver missed the incident, but VAR claimed Luiz had done enough to be sent off after his wily opponent hit the deck for no reason.
Douglas Luiz had his red card withdrawn for what officials said was a headbutt on Aleksandar Mitrovic
Manchester United 3-1 Arsenal, September
Martin Odegaard ranted after his ‘soft’ foul on Christian Eriksen denied Arsenal an opener at Old Trafford.
United man Antony instead scored the first goal of the game before Bukayo Saka equalised.
However, Marcus Rashford had other ideas and scored twice as Arsenal dealt a blow to their early title hopes.
Manchester United beat Arsenal at Old Trafford in September after an Arsenal opener was disallowed
Arsenal 1-1 Brentford, February
Arsenal fans were stunned when Lee Mason forgot to check Brentford’s equalizer for offside – a potentially crucial moment in the title race.
It seemed clear to everyone except Mason that the goal was offside. He left his role shortly afterwards by mutual consent.
Lee Mason left his role by mutual consent after forgetting to properly check a goal for offside
Tottenham 2-1 Brighton, April
Another month, another PGMOL apology to Brighton, this time for a wall penalty not given for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s blatant foul on Kaoru Mitoma.
Spurs controversially won the game in a heated contest that saw both head coaches sent off.
Brighton did not receive a penalty after the defeat against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend
What the Premier League table would look like if the right calls had been made during the games