Man City news: Ex-Fifa official issues ‘significant’ claim as controversial footage analysed
Man City were lucky to be awarded a late penalty at Norwich City on Saturday, according to Keith Hackett.
The former Fifa and Premier League official, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, said there was “significant doubt” over the collision between Grant Hanley and Liam Delap.
Hanley was penalised late on at Carrow Road after barging Delap to the ground inside the 18-yard box.
On-field referee Andre Marriner deemed the contact sufficient of awarding a penalty, and VAR official Paul Tierney decided there was no clear and obvious error.
The incident had little bearing on the result with Pep Guardiola’s side 3-0 up at the time.
Hackett urged referees to remember that football is a contact sport after what he saw at Norwich.
“I honestly thought it was a harsh penalty decision,” he told Football Insider‘s Dylan Childs.
“We have to understand that football is a contact sport. There will be contact and the referees judgement should take that into context.
“When you are giving a penalty, ideally, you have to be 100 per cent sure. I think there was significant doubt about that one. I went, ‘Oo that’s soft.’ That was my reaction when I saw it.
“As a referee, you have to be consistent across the 90 minutes. When a referee goes to a football match it is like an artist with a white sheet of paper ready to paint. You go with the flow of the game and you react.”
In other news, Kieran Maguire has predicted the real reason why Man City chief’s exit has been confirmed.