Man City vs West Ham ref watch: Three decisions Paul Tierney got wrong
Paul Tierney was at the mercy of the Etihad Stadium crowd as Man City claimed an important three points against West Ham on Saturday.
Erling Haaland continued his scoring streak with a brace at the Etihad Stadium on 20 December, with Tijjani Reijnders‘ effort being sandwiched by the Norwegian star’s goals.
While Arsenal have been favourites for the Premier League title, the Citizens finally took top spot with all three points before Mikel Arteta‘s side face Everton later on the same day.
Although it was a simple win for the home side, the officiating on show left many supporters frustrated, and to the surprise of very few, because Tierney has been heavily criticised previously this season.
Kyle Walker-Peters crunches into Nico O’Reilly
Nico O’Reilly was fortunate not to be seriously injured after a follow-through challenge from West Ham’s No.2, who had attempted to make a clearance in the opening seven minutes.
The left-back did require a few seconds to gather himself before running off a limp, and replays showed very high contact from Kyle Walker-Peters, but the incident went completely unpunished, with VAR not getting involved at all.
Nico Gonzalez avoids being sent off at the Etihad
Already on a yellow card, Nico Gonzalez might have been lucky to remain on the pitch ahead of the half-time whistle, with the Hammers players absolutely furious with Tierney.
Jarrod Bowen would eventually talk himself into the book, trying to argue his case for a handball against the Man City midfielder, and stopping the away side’s attack in such fashion could have seen a second yellow card awarded.
Phil Foden could have been cautioned by Paul Tierney
Late in proceedings, Phil Foden, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, caught Mateus Fernandes in the face, causing the West Ham man to go down writhing in pain.
Normally, with face contact, even when a player is trying to fend off the opposition, a referee dishes out a yellow card for being careless, so the England international will be glad that he avoided exactly that.