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Former Premier League referee Howard Webb has lifted the lid on the only decision he made that he wished he could reverse.
Webb is widely regarded as one of the best referees of the 21st century and officiated the 2010 World Cup final, where he was unable to send Nigel de Jong for leading with his thumb tacks to Xabi Alonso’s chest.
However, there is another call that Webb regrets the most.
The incident occurred in 2009 in a match between Manchester United and Tottenham during a heated title race between United and Liverpool.
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The Spurs led 2-0 at Old Trafford in the second half thanks to goals from Darren Bent and Luka Modric, only for Michael Carrick to win a penalty for the hosts after being knocked down by Heurelho Gomes.
Webb pointed to the spot, but immediately realized that something was wrong.
Recalling the moment after he awarded a penalty, Webb said: “I expected the usual curb appeal you get from players, not the great look of utter amazement, awe and disbelief in Gomes’ appearance.
“It was obvious within seconds that he had made the wrong decision. There was something else to this.”
Replays clearly showed that Gomes had reached the ball first to remove it, but none of the assistant referees offered clarification and the call was kept.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit a penalty kick at home to cut the deficit in half.
What happened next went down in Premier League history, with Wayne Rooney equalizing for United before three other goals, from Ronaldo, Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov, saw the Spurs lose 5-2.
After Rooney called, Webb was able to see what was going to happen.
“You know that,” he added, speaking to Athletic. “You can say it as a referee. You can see the change in momentum.
“You can see how the game is going. At 2-1, you never know. At 2-2, you can see how this game is going.”
Webb, who has officiated more than 500 professional games and is now general manager of the MLS Professional Referees Organization, believes that VAR is useful in helping to eliminate obvious errors from the game.
“The good thing now is that we have a system in place where we can rectify some of the most egregious mistakes and we are very pleased with how it has worked so far,” added Webb.
“The fact that we have been able to rectify some big mistakes, we have been able to give the officials confidence, so in that game at Old Trafford, I could have had a much better final 30 minutes knowing that yes, I had made a mistake, but having seen it again from a better angle, I was able to correct it. “
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