Connect with us

Brighton & Hove Albion

Referee Stuart Attwell survives the axe despite Tottenham vs Brighton howler

Stuart Attwell survives the axe despite Tottenham v Brighton howler

Referee Stuart Attell will officiate this weekend despite his shocking display in the recent Tottenham Hotspur vs Brighton & Hove Albion game.

According to Sky Sports, Attwell will be the Video Assistant Referee in the weekend clash between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brentford.

However, his assistant Michael Salisbury who was on VAR duty, will not be assigned any Premier League game this weekend after his howler against Brighton.

Attwell, the on-field referee in the game, failed to award Brighton a penalty in real-time following a tackle by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg on Kaoru Mitoma.

Salisbury then failed to recommend that Attwell review the incident on the pitch-side monitor despite replays showing a clear foul on the Seagulls forward.

The decision came in the 70th minute of the game with both sides level at 1-1 after Heung-min Son and Lewis Dunk had cancelled each other out in the first half.

Harry Kane then put the game to bed nine minutes later, nabbing a 2-1 win for Tottenham and leaving Brighton furious with the match officials.

PGMOL Chief Howard Webb has since apologised to the Seagulls, claiming they should have been awarded a penalty for the foul on Mitoma.

It is not the first time they have apologised to Brighton for a contentious decision, having contacted them in February to admit a significant human error for incorrectly ruling out a Pervis Estupinan goal in the 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace.

The latest setback is a big blow to Roberto De Zerbi’s side, who harboured unlikely hopes of securing Champions League football for next season. 

A victory would have reduced their gap with Tottenham to only a point, but they are now ten behind the top-four places in the Premier League table

However, they remain in contention for a place in the Europa Conference League, with just one point separating them from Aston Villa with two games in hand.

More in Brighton & Hove Albion