Simon Hooper was slammed for his howler in Manchester City's 3-3 draw with Tottenham where he denied a stoppage-time goal opportunity for Jack Grealish.
The referee drew the ire of the reigning champions after blowing the whistle for a foul on Erling Haaland rather than playing advantage with Grealish seemingly through on goal in the final minute of Sunday's (December 3) clash.
Hooper has been at the centre of a few controversial decisions this season including denying Wolves a penalty after Andre Onana clattered into Sasa Kalajdzic, as well as showing Liverpool two controversial red cards in their 2-1 loss to Spurs back in September.
READ MORE: Every picture of Erling Haaland screaming at Simon Hooper after Man City denied advantage
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The 41-year-old was slated by ex-Premier League referee Jeff Winter who spoke to OLBG about his dire mistake which condemned City to a third consecutive draw. "I don’t know why he blew the whistle. You can’t defend it, he’s made a mistake, just like Haaland did when he missed an open goal," Winter said.
Winter – who was a referee in England's top-flight for nine years – called Hooper's decision to blow for a foul "human error" and added: "He made a genuine mistake and he will be hurting more than anyone this morning. It was a match-defining incident. It was an error of judgment by the referee, you can’t defend the indefensible."
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Erling Haaland screamed in Hooper's face after he failed to play the advantage but according to Winter, if the Norwegian had converted the golden chance he had in the first half when he pulled a shot wide then City may have had the game wrapped up.
Before we get to that incident where people are saying it’s a match-determining incident, I saw Erling Haaland miss an open goal from 10 yards earlier in the game," he continued.
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"I would suggest that if he put that ball into the net, you would think on the quarter-million pound a week salary he’s earning, he should have done and the game would have been beyond Tottenham."
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