Craig Pawson caused an uproar by disallowing Rayan Cherki’s goal against Liverpool earlier this month and Howard Webb has revealed whether the referee made the correct decision.
Manchester City fans were the ones celebrating after their 2-1 triumph at Anfield, but the jubilation was a little subdued after a late incident which saw their third goal chalked off.
Erling Haaland was the victim of a last man foul by Dominik Szoboszlai, but Cherki’s long range effort was still able to find the net and referee Craig Pawson initially awarded a goal.
However, after VAR intervened, Pawson decided to send off the Liverpool player and he cancelled out Cherki’s goal in exchange for a free kick in the position of the original offence.
This decision was heavily criticised by supporters and pundits alike, with Gary Neville describing it as killing one of the moments of the season.
Howard Webb claims Craig Pawson made the correct decision
Former Premier League referee Howard Webb has offered his opinion on Pawson’s controversial call and he believes the right decision was made.
Since the ball only crossed the line due to Haaland fouling Szoboszlai, Webb claims it would be wrong to allow the goal to stand.
He told Match Officials Mic’d Up: To referee at Premier League level, you need a feel for the game, you need an understanding, and we try to apply common sense where that’s possible but there’s a limit to that.
“This goal is only scored – it only goes in the goal – because Erling Haaland pulls Szoboszlai, preventing him from being able to clear the ball.
“The referee tries to play an advantage when Szoboszlai initially pulls Haaland, and he waits to see what happens and, of course if the ball goes straight into the goal, that’s a good advantage, we give the goal.
“But the ball only goes into the goal because Haaland clearly commits an offence on Szoboszlai. We can’t ignore that. We can’t therefore just allow the advantage because it’s only accrued because of that action by Haaland.”
Webb continued: “So, we have to go right back to the initial offence, which is the one by Szoboszlai pulling Haaland. It’s outside the penalty area, it denies an obvious goalscoring opportunity, so a free kick is given and Szoboszlai is sent off.
“He was appealing for this foul by Haaland, he was right to appeal because it was a foul. But unfortunately for him, he’d committed an initial offence that has to be penalised and we end up in what is clearly the right place through the use of VAR in the end.”
Pawson did not disallow Cherki’s goal until VAR intervened
Pawson may have decided to disallow Manchester City’s third goal, but this was only because VAR spotted something he miseed.
Speaking to the video assistant during the match, Pawson said: “The on-field decision is goal. There’s an initial foul on Erling Haaland.”
The video assistant responded: “We have a clear foul on Erling Haaland and then a clear foul on the defender. So, we can’t allow this goal because there’s a foul. We have a clear foul on the defender so we can’t ignore it.
“However, there’s a clear free-kick just before and a DOGSO. Because that’s why Erling Haaland doesn’t get on the end of the ball. So that is a DOGSO. So, it’s on-field review. Cancel the goal and recommend a review for a DOGSO by Szoboszlai.”
Pawson was sent to the pithside monitor to review the incident before saying: “That’s the pull-back. That’s the one I played advantage on, yeah.”
The video assistant replied: “But then we cannot play advantage and ignore this because there is a clear holding offence on the defende, there. So we have to disallow the goal for the holding on the defender, award Manchester City a free kick and give a red card for a DOGSO by Szoboszlai.”
Pawson added: “Ah, I didn’t see that” and the goal was disallowed, leaving City with -4 goal difference deficit compared with Arsenal, which could be important come the end of the season.
