Exclusive: Stuart Attwell slammed over second Brighton penalty vs Leicester
Keith Hackett has criticised VAR Stuart Attwell following the draw between Brighton and Leicester City in the Premier League.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that Attwell should not have intervened to award a second penalty to Fabian Hurzeler’s side in that game.
Leicester ended their long wait for a goal and point with a 2-2 draw against Brighton at the AMEX Stadium on Saturday (12 April).
However, it seemingly could have been even better for Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side had certain decisions gone in the way.
Leicester City face penalty frustration at The AMEX
With the score still at 0-0, Leicester were denied a penalty when Pervis Estupinan brought down Kasey McAteer inside the Brighton area.
Shortly after, Attwell intervened to award a penalty to Brighton after a handball by Leicester defender Conor Coady inside his own box.
That was converted by Joao Pedro to open the scoring, although Stephy Mavididi equalised for the visitors before half time.
| Stephy Mavidid vs Brighton | Total (as per SofaScore) |
| Goals | 1 |
| Shots on Target | 1 |
| Shots off Target | 1 |
| Shots Blocked | 2 |
| Succesfful Dribbles | 3/4 |
| Successful Passes | 15/19 |
The Seagulls though would go back in front ten minutes after the break, when Pedro scored his second penalty of the game.
Again, this one came after an intervention from Attwell on VAR to award a spot kick after Brighton midfielder Matt O’Riley went to ground following a tussle in the area with Luke Thomas.
Hackett though, believes there was no need for the video official to get involved to give that penalty against Leicester.
Stuart Attwell hammered over Brighton penalty
After being asked by Football Insider what he made of Attwell’s decision to intervene on VAR over that incident, Hackett said:
“Oh dear. This really did not warrant intervention. Once again Stuart Attwell sat in the VAR room wants to get to involved. Football is a contact sport and this was just untidy. Not a penalty kick for me.”
Caleb Okoli would later equalise to earn a 2-2 draw for Leicester, although they remain 19th in the table, and will be relegated if they fail to beat league leaders Liverpool on Sunday (20 April).
Brighton meanwhile are ninth in the standings, having seen their hopes of claiming a European place dealt a blow after failing to pick up all three points here.