Manchester United star Maceus Kuña must be held responsible for not being penalised against Arsenal on Sunday as Keith Hackett denounced the “loose” performance of umpire Simon Hooper.
Riccardo Calfioli scored the only goal of the match at Old Trafford and took advantage of Altai Bayindeal’s flap from Declan Rice’s corner to score all three points on the first day of the season.
United generally got better at the game and could have had a great chance to equalize if William Saliba was punished for his challenge in Cunha in the box. The Arsenal defender did not appear to make contact with the ball as the Red Devils star fell to the ground.
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However, Hackett, a former FIFA umpire and former PGMOL chief, argues that it’s right that Hooper doesn’t give a spot kick.
The former referee told Football Insider: “There’s no doubt that the defender has come into contact with Cunha. The problem here is that the player has already fallen backwards and was looking for a penalty kick.
“The referee is a spot. Val is not involved because it is not a clear and obvious error. Players often exaggerate falls when a foul occurs.
“Saliba has truly tried the ball, and Cunya is already on the way. He isn’t even facing a goal. Why? There are so many questions to be asked here.
“As a fan, I can understand why Man United wanted a penalty.”
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Hackett was not impressed with Hooper’s overall performance. He claims that he is “inconsistent and lacking authority” in the biggest game of the first Premier League weekend of the season.
He added: “I wasn’t satisfied with the judge’s performance. When a foul is being made, the judge completely ignores them without a favorable signal, opening up the question of whether he saw it or not.
“Hooper’s approach was, ‘I’ll keep playing the game. I’ll be modest,’ but doing so made the game bubble up from time to time.
“But he was inconsistent, in authority, and he didn’t understand when to step into the ball. It was an indifferent performance and he was fortunate to not have a massive conflict.
“It’s loose and inconsistent. I know the history between these teams and I was surprised he was appointed to this game. As a former boss, you will always be in control of your strongest judge.
“Howard Webb set all these rules as they were attached to the box, and while both were well disciplined, there was a contradiction.
