Man City won't be happy with Premier League decision ahead of Arsenal clash after 'mistake' in FA Cup final

Manchester City beat rivals Manchester United 3-0 in their last Premier League outing. Striker Erling Haaland scored twice against the Red Devils. Meanwhile, Phil Foden also got himself on the scoresheet at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola’s side are sat in 8th place in the table after two wins from their first four fixtures. They are back in action this weekend as they look to build some momentum. A tricky away trip to the Emirates Stadium to play Arsenal lies in store.

Who has been appointed referee for Arsenal vs Manchester City?

Stuart Attwell will be the referee for City’s game against Arsenal. Constantine Hatzidakis and Nicholas Hopton are the assistant referees, with Craig Pawson as the fourth official. Meanwhile, Jared Gillett and Ian Hussin will be on VAR dutires.

Attwell, 42, has been in the game since 2007. He started out in the Football League before working his way up to the top flight. The Warwickshire-born man is now working his 17th season.

He has overseen three Premier League fixtures so far in this campaign and has handed out 17 yellow cards. He is yet to sent anyone off yet. Attwell has refereed Everton vs Brighton and Hove Albion, Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace and Brentford vs Chelsea.

Has Stuart Attwell refereed Manchester City before?

Attwell was the man in the middle for City’s FA Cup final against Crystal Palace back in May. They lost 1-0 to the Eagles at Wembley. Eberechi Eze, who is now at Arsenal, scored the only goal of the game in the first half.

Guardiola’s men were left disappointed by Attwell’s decision not to send off ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson after he appeared to handle the ball outside of his box. The incident happened before half-time when they were chasing an equaliser. However, VAR deemed it not a sending off offence.

Former referee Mark Clattenburg subsequently came out afterwards and saw it as a ‘mistake’. He said, as per a report by Manchester City News: “The first major decision for the match officials to deal with in the FA Cup final was to decide if, firstly, Dean Henderson, the Crystal Palace goalkeeper, had handled outside the penalty area, and if he had handled outside, then would it be deemed a denial of a goal-scoring opportunity. From the replays, it’s clear to see that Henderson handles the ball outside the penalty area before Haaland can get a touch on the ball.

“The VAR reviews the incident and decides that the play was going away from the goal and therefore not a goal-scoring opportunity. I disagree with this, as if Henderson does not touch the ball with his hand, then Haaland will have an open goal to score. There could be an argument that there was a covering defender, but the defender would not stop Haaland getting to the ball. This is a clear case of denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and a mistake by the VAR.”

Wayne Rooney, who was on pundit duties that day, said: “It is a red card, 100% a red card. Erling Haaland is about to knock it around him, and Dean Henderson sweeps the ball away. It is a red card. How can they get this wrong?”