Pep Guardiola was left unhappy with the refereeing team during Manchester City's victory over Wolves when his side were denied a penalty for handball
Referee Farai Hallam will not officiate in the Premier League this weekend. It comes after Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was left astounded when his side did not get a penalty in their 2-0 home victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Hallam, 32, took charge of his first match in the top division of English football when he stepped onto the pitch at the Etihad Stadium at the weekend. He made a bold statement by opting to stick with his original decision when he was called to the pitch-side monitor by the video assistant referee (VAR) team.
Hallam was told to have another look at an incident which saw City forward Omar Marmoush cut the ball back onto the arm of Yerson Mosquera. Despite watching the footage, the official chose to keep his original decision of no penalty, insisting the Wolves' defender's arm was in a "natural position" amid the calls for handball.
Hallam, in front of the 53,000 approximate crowd, said: "After review, the ball hits the arm of the Wolves player, which is in a natural position, so the on-field decision will remain.”
It had little bearing on the result as City went on to record a comfortable 2-0 victory thanks to a goal from Marmoush and a second strike from Antoine Semenyo on the stroke of half time. Nevertheless, Guardiola was still furious he did not get a penalty.
FOLLOW OUR MAN CITY FB PAGE! Follow our Manchester City Mirror Football Facebook page
Hallam has not been included in this weekend's round of top-flight matches. He has not been listed as a referee, assistant, fourth official, VAR or assistant VAR official in any of the games.
PGMOL don't appoint referees who made their Premier League debuts to officiate in matches in the next round of fixtures. Tom Kirk made his debut as a Premier League referee in early December and didn't appear on the pitch again in the top-flight until a month later.
Hallam will instead take charge of Stoke City's televised clash against Southampton in the Championship on Saturday. Guardiola said in his post-match media duties: "The player’s arm is out from his body.
"The ref made a huge debut…so now everyone will know him, but it’s OK. It’s the first time they go to a TV and disallowed what is a 'normal’ position of the arms.”
He also had a dig at PGMOL chief Howard Webb, by saying: “I’m waiting for a phone call to explain why it wasn’t a penalty.”
It was a vital result for Guardiola's side, given Arsenal's 3-2 away defeat to Manchester United. City moved within four points of the Premier League leaders with 15 matches still to play.
The victory also ended City's run of four Premier League matches without a win, which saw them draw with Sunderland, Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion, before their derby loss to United the week before.
They host Galatasaray in a crucial Champions League match at the Etihad Stadium, before travelling to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and facing Newcastle United in the second-leg of their League Cup semi-final.
Wupaclnotz
1
Peter bankes should be investigated immediately he's corrupted and I thought he hates some clubs and favours others as well collecting bribery must attain his ways.
KingCarrot
0
Let Pep be the referee for all future Man City games
Tobbclnpry
2
should also suspend the manU game VAR team
malablata
0
1. For dorgu he took the ball with this thigh which could be seen easily and spotted by Var even clean Goal 2. For the Maguire Read the Rules where by if a player is falling and he is using one hand as support and isn't far from his body it is a natural position do you want him to down without using arms use your common sense and know the rules of the game before complaining
You don't worth taking part in a football discussion.
Viwcelmnyz
0
115 for a reason
Nazikops
1
What then will happen to the ref of Arsenal and Man Utd match for closing eye on both Dorgu and Maguire handballs that led to goal and denial of clear penalty, two incident that would had turned the score on Arsenal favor?
1. For dorgu he took the ball with this thigh which could be seen easily and spotted by Var even clean Goal 2. For the Maguire Read the Rules where by if a player is falling and he is using one hand as support and isn't far from his body it is a natural position do you want him to down without using arms use your common sense and know the rules of the game before complaining
Sabkmorsu
0
FA REFREES HATES ARSENAL..THE PROBLEM IS WITH OUR TEAM CAPT..WHO IS TOO QUITE AND SLEEPY TO COMMAND HIS TEAM TO IGNORE REFREES AND SCORE ...QE SAW IT WITH VIERA WHEREBY REFREES COULD FAVOUR FURGSON TEAM..BUT ARSENAL COULD GO AHEAD AND WIN .
malablata
2
What then will happen to the ref of Arsenal and Man Utd match for closing eye on both Dorgu and Maguire handballs that led to goal and denial of clear penalty, two incident that would had turned the score on Arsenal favor?
Lizcklnouz
1
is pep so specially than the other coaches in the epl?because we ve seen a lot of those decisions going against other teams but they don't complain like the way he's doing ,the premier league is a bias league
Mieelosuyz
0
it should be a penalty
wimbdetu
1
the Manchesters controls the epl
Yocbdklz
0
weldone for him