Keith Hackett: FA investigation should be launched after Man City vs Chelsea incident
Man City’s clash with Chelsea should be one that the FA “re-referee” after a major talking point emerged at the Etihad Stadium.
That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that an investigation must be launched after a clash between Liam Delap and Abduokodir Khusanov.
Pep Guardiola was left frustrated on Sunday, 4 January, as the Citizens fell six points behind league leaders Arsenal over the weekend, while the Gunners narrowly beat Bournemouth.
Reece James and Bernardo Silva both should have been cautioned in the opening stages, leaving questions over Michael Oliver‘s officiating, but that was not the biggest incident that evening.
Liam Delap crashes Abdukodir Khusanov into advertising boards
Hackett has been critical of Oliver’s officiating previously, despite the official heading for Champions League and World Cup football, and he could see some of his decisions reversed.
After the altercation between Delap and Khusanov, which left the latter in a heap on the floor, Matheus Nunes was cautioned for backing up his teammate, while other players also got involved.
Clubs can often be sanctioned for failing to control their players in situations like this, yet Hackett believes there could be further intervention from the authorities after this specific incident.
As well as fuming with acts of simulation, the former head of the PGMOL is calling for more action to be taken over these types of situations, with Oliver only acting with two yellow cards.
Keith Hackett backs FA to investigate Man City vs Chelsea
Hackett, exclusively speaking to Football Insider on The Final Whistle, said: “We’re at the time of the year when a lot of people are still on holiday. I’ve noticed in my career that certain things that should be noticed go amiss because of the time of year.
“It should be looked at by the footballing authorities if there’s anything more, but there’s a general reluctance from the FA to re-referee games. One thing they should re-referee is incidents like this or acts of simulation.”
City supporters were just calming down from the incident when Enzo Fernandez scored the late equaliser, sending the Etihad crowd into complete silence, and Guardiola into a meltdown on the sidelines.