‘Mike Dean Guessed Feghouli Red And Got It Wrong’- Former Referee Reveals

‘Mike Dean Guessed Feghouli Red And Got It Wrong’- Former Referee Reveals

Referee Mike Dean guessed the decision to send off Sofiane Feghouli against Manchester United, according to former official Mark Halsey.

Feghouli was given a straight red card after just 15 minutes at the London Stadium after he arrived later than Phil Jones in a crunching 50-50 challenge.

Dean opted to dismiss the Algeria international and United went on to beat West Ham 2-0 thanks to second-half goals from Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Hammers boss Slaven Bilic accused Jones of “making a meal” of the incident in order to influence the decision, and Halsey – who retired in 2013 after 14 years of officiating in the top flight in England – believes Dean was affected by the centre-back’s reaction and his failure to send off Everton’s Ross Barkley for a crude challenge in the Merseyside derby last month.

“Because he missed the Barkley challenge, I think it’s at the back of his mind,” Halsey told talkSPORT.

“He looked away. If you look at the challenge, Phil Jones comes in more strongly. It’s a fair challenge, they’ve both gone for the ball.

“I think Mike’s got this wrong and I can see West Ham appealing.

“I have to say, Mike’s turned round and seen Phil rolling around. He may be hurt but when you are hurt, you stay still. I think the way he’s rolled around, he’s injured himself the way he’s gone into the challenge.

“Because of what happened at Goodison Park, I think he’s guessed and he’s got it wrong. It’s a game-changing decision.

“Every player has to leave the ground at some stage in a sliding challenge. He takes his feet away. I thought he was sending off Jones – I really didn’t expect any sort of card on that challenge. But because Jones has rolled around, I think that makes his mind up.”

Halsey claims there is a lack of strong leadership in top-level refereeing and says more should be more done to utilise the experience of former officials in helping to train a new generation.

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