Simon Hooper WILL referee Sheffield United vs Liverpool and will not be punished by Howard Webb for error in Manchester City’s draw with Tottenham
- Simon Hooper remains to referee for Sheff Utd vs Liverpool on Wednesday
- He will not be addicted to his mistake in the match between Manchester City and Tottenham
- Manchester United in a mess – they have a collapse in them – It all starts
Simon Hooper remains to referee for Sheffield United versus Liverpool on Wednesday night, with the 41-year-old avoiding being sidelined for his late error that infuriated Manchester City.
PGMOL insiders say there will be no change to the midweek referee roster, although it is privately acknowledged that Hooper made a mistake by not playing an advantage when Erling Haaland set up Jack Grealish late in Sunday's 3-3 draw with Tottenham.
While City were outraged by Grealish's failure to get on target – and Hooper faced significant abuse on social media in the aftermath, including threats against his family – the consensus is that human error can happen in the heat of the moment.
Football figures such as Mail Sport columnist Chris Sutton have also pointed out that Hooper was not the only one to make a mistake in Sunday's scintillating Premier League match.
Haaland led the protests against Hooper on the pitch for killing off the promising attack, although some of his anger may have stemmed from his own frustration at not taking his chances.
Simon Hooper (left) remains referee for Sheffield United vs Liverpool on Wednesday
Hooper denied City a scoring opportunity on Sunday evening by blowing his whistle
City striker Erling Haaland (left) was tripped by Tottenham's Emerson Royal and Hooper (right) looks like he was about to blow for a foul
Hooper raised his arm and appeared to take advantage as Haaland released Jack Grealish (left)
Sutton wrote in his column on Monday: 'Simon Hooper made a mistake, a big one, but then many players made mistakes in this 3-3 thriller, perhaps even bigger ones.
'That includes Erling Haaland, who missed an open goal and yet shouted in Hooper's face as if he alone had prevented Manchester City from winning.'
Hooper was sidelined earlier this season after failing to award a penalty to Wolves in their 1-0 defeat to Manchester United due to an injury-time challenge from Andre Onana on Sasa Kalajdzic.
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Grealish picked up the ball and tried to drive forward, but Hooper blew his whistle
Grealish (left) was all over it, albeit with three Spurs players returning in a fury
Haaland was furious and confronted Hooper, appearing to say “F*** off!” shouted. F*** away!' at him