Dermot Gallagher gives verdict on Simon Hooper’s decision that left Erling Haaland furious

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·4 December 2023

Dermot Gallagher gives verdict on Simon Hooper’s decision that left Erling Haaland furious

Referee Simon Hooper is in the headlines after a controversial call during Manchester City's 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on December 3. The game was a fantastic contest between two incredible sides and it was filled with plenty of drama. Both teams took the lead at times throughout the match, but it was the closing stages of the fixture that had everyone talking once it had wrapped up.

With the scores tied at 3-3, Erling Haaland was fouled just inside his own half, but managed to recover quickly, scrambling to his feet and regaining control of the ball. As a result, Hooper, who was considering blowing for a foul, decided to allow the Norwegian to continue, playing advantage for City. Haaland took advantage of that decision, no pun intended, and played a sublime ball over the top of the Spurs defence. The ball found Jack Grealish, who ended up one-on-one with Guglielmo Vicario and looked almost certain to score, but then the referee decided to blow his whistle and halt the attack.

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For some inexplicable reason, Hooper decided to bring the game back for the initial foul on Haaland, despite City actually benefiting from the advantage played and standing a great chance of scoring a winner. It infuriated the entire team, particularly Haaland who lost his cool with the officials and then with Giovani Lo Celso. No one could quite wrap their head around the decision, and now a former Premier League referee has had his say on the matter.

No one quite knows what Hooper was thinking when he decided to call for the foul and halt City's attack. It didn't make any sense and Pep Guardiola outlined his confusion in his post-match press conference afterwards. Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has now given his verdict on the moment, and called it 'unfortunate'.

Speaking on Sky Sports News' Ref Watch, the former official explained that he thought the initial decision to play advantage was the right one and doesn't quite understand why Hooper blew his whistle afterwards. He did go on to say that it's a referee's choice whether to play advantage or not, though, and in the laws of the game, he had done nothing wrong whatsoever.

Gallagher went on to admit that if Hooper had waited just one more second before calling the play back, the whole landscape of the game would have changed. It's interesting to see the former ref admit that he didn't quite understand the decision himself as no one in the world seems to get it.

"He quite rightly plays on and you can see why. The ball goes to Grealish who's away and then for whatever reason, Simon just puts his whistle to his mouth and blows it. "If he'd have waited one second, the whole landscape changes, but unfortunately, he didn't. You know, he's blown his whistle, it's unfortunate, but it's just an error he's made. It's the referee's choice to play advantage, not anyone else's, so in law, he hasn't done anything wrong."

Whether Grealish would have actually scored from the situation is impossible to predict, but considering he'd already come off of the bench and bagged one during the contest, he certainly would have stood a very good chance of converting it. The draw could have huge repercussions on the fortunes of both teams by the time the season wraps up in May, but we'll just have to wait and see whether that's the case.