Mark Halsey has one man to blame for Premier League refereeing errors after Newcastle v Arsenal

Mark Halsey has blamed Howard Webb’s management team for Premier League refereeing errors after Newcastle United beat Arsenal on Saturday.

Writing in his latest column for The Sun, the former Premier League referee discussed Anthony Gordon’s controversial winner against Arsenal on Saturday.

There has been plenty of fallout after the game, with Mikel Arteta labelling the decision to award the goal a ‘disgrace’.

The VAR checked on three incidents following Gordon’s winner at St James’ Park on Saturday – whether the ball had gone out of play in the build-up, a possible foul on Gabriel and an offside.

All three incidents were eventually cleared by the VAR following a lengthy check and it’s fair to say the decision has divided opinion.

But former referee Mark Halsey believes the goal should have been ruled out and blames PGMOL chief Howard Webb for the standard of refereeing in the Premier League at the moment.

Halsey blames Webb for refereeing errors following Newcastle vs Arsenal
Halsey sympathised with Arteta and believes the goal should have been ruled out due to a foul.

The former referee also believes Bruno Guimaraes and Kai Havertz were both fortunate to not receive red cards during the game.

“I can understand Mikel Arteta’s frustrations after Arsenal’s defeat at Newcastle,” Halsey said. “There were three VAR checks for Anthony Gordon’s winner and I felt there was a clear push by Joelinton on Gabriel.

“Had ref Stuart Attwell disallowed the goal or VAR Andy Madley recommended a review then there would have been few complaints.

“On the other two checks, the TV camera angles shown were inconclusive as to whether Joe Willock kept the ball in play during the build-up.

“VAR tried to look if Gordon was also offside. But there was no available angle to see the point of contact from Joelinton so the officials were unable to determine when the Magpies midfielder last touched the ball and therefore if Gordon was offside.

“It was the latest high-profile error and the mistakes are happening every week. Why is this? The leadership, coaching and direction from Howard Webb’s management team is not up to the task.

“Kai Havertz and Bruno Guimaraes were both lucky to avoid a red card. Havertz dodged a clear sending-off for a poor challenge on Sean Longstaff which ticked all the boxes for serious foul play under Law 12.

“Guimaraes should have also been dismissed for violent conduct after his forearm smash on the back of Jorginho’s head. Ref Attwell didn’t see it but that’s what VAR is for.”

The decision to award the goal has split opinion over the past couple of days. But there is no doubt that the standard of refereeing isn’t up to scratch in the Premier League at the moment.

There have been several high-profile blunders this season already, with Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal at Tottenham the standout error.