Ex-Fifa official: Referee may have denied goal for Martinelli as controversial Arsenal footage analysed
Keith Hackett has admitted he is “worried” after Stuart Attwell’s positioning may have denied Arsenal a goal in their 2-1 defeat to Man City on Saturday (1 January).
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa and Premier League referee delivered his verdict after analysing the footage of Gabriel Martinelli’s golden opportunity in front of an almost empty net.
With the scores 1-1 in the second half after a misjudged header from Aymeric Laporte the ball was seemingly destined to nestle into the Man City goal before a dramatic goalline clearance from Nathan Ake.
Attwell sprinted ahead of Martinelli to get a good view of the ball but in the process blocked the Arsenal man’s view as the ball fell to him.
He then smacked the ball against the post instead of finishing into an empty net, as shown on the BBC’s Match of the Day programme.
“I get worried,” Hackett said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“We had Mike Dean last week at Liverpool, we had Attwell here and we had John Brooks get in the way – that was the Everton-Brighton game.
“Look, I want referees to be up with play but they’ve got to make the decision not to get in the way.
“If their starting point was a little bit wider than it is at the moment they would avoid that. It’s a positioning dilemma that the referee faces.
“In that situation, put the brakes on. Just stop and the players will go around you, not through you. If you run across you are reducing their vision and ability to have a strike on goal or to pass to a colleague.
“In fairness, I think Attwell is one of the referees who are super fit. He does move around the field of play. He’s in the class of Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor in terms of movement.
“It will happen. Referees will get in the way. That’s why the law is there, if it does hit them they stop and give a drop ball.
“In those situations, you need a bit of luck but we’ve seen it three times in recent weeks.”
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