It shouldn’t really come as any surprise that certain decisions which were made during the Premier League weekend were controversial.
VAR in the spotlight at Elland Road
Even though VAR has been used for seven seasons now, the application of the laws of the game can be questionable. There was a contentious moment in Leeds' win against Tottenham, where VAR Tony Harrington did not award a penalty for an apparent Mateus Fernandes handball.
"Mateus Fernandes' arm is outstretched as he throws himself towards a cross, but VAR takes no further action. It looked nailed-on for a penalty kick, but it appears that VAR are convinced that the ball hit the player's shoulder," Hackett said.
"I would certainly want to see verification on that. It looked a clear handball to me."
More was to follow later in the game, in an incident that infuriated Spurs fans as Jayden Bogle caught Mathys Tel with a nasty looking challenge from behind that ended the Tottenham player's game.
"A poor challenge by Jayden Bogle on Mathys Tel, as the former went down the back of Tel's Achilles, meant that VAR checked for a possible red card," Hackett said.
"Looking at replays of this incident, it was avoidable and clearly Bogle endangered the safety of an opponent with force. I want this type of challenge outlawed, and the outcome should have resulted in a red card.
"VAR stated that the challenge wasn't a red card, and under the current VAR protocol, Bogle walked away without any sanction, not even a yellow card. That is simply not right."
'A huge error in the application of the law'
Given Farai Hallam has only been a Premier League referee since January, he will have been relying on his hugely experienced VAR, Michael Oliver, in the big moments of Arsenal's game against Hull at the Emirates. Such a moment came when Kai Havertz appeared to be pulled back by Nobel Mendy in the area, and Hackett says the officials got that one wrong.
"The match officials made a huge error in the application of the law by denying Arsenal a penalty kick," Hackett added.
"Arsenal's Havertz was clearly pulled back by a Hull player, VAR intervened, and replays showed that Havertz was in an offside position.
"There were several minutes of review, resulting in the officials not awarding a penalty kick but deciding that Havertz was offside.
"The Law States: A player in an offside position is moving towards the ball with the intention of playing the ball and is fouled before playing or attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball; the foul is penalised as it has occurred before the offside offence."
Stuart Attwell spares Oliver's blushes
Michael Oliver had another issue when he officiated Brighton's game against Brentford. Igor Thiago was initially shown a yellow card by Oliver following a clash with Chema Andres, but then the referee was sent to the monitor by VAR Stuart Attwell to have another look at the incident, at which point Thiago was shown a red for violent conduct.
"VAR correctly intervened, and Thiago was then rightly shown the red card by Oliver," says Hackett. "You cannot put your hand in the face of your opponent with a degree of force."
Two decisions go against Chelsea
At the Stadium of Light, the only goal of the game came via the boot of Enzo Le Fee from the penalty spot as Sunderland beat Chelsea 1-0. But the penalty incident itself - where Levi Colwill was deemed to have brought down Brian Brobbey in the box - should have been scrutinised more, says Hackett.
"VAR (Nicholas Hopton) should've intervened to allow the referee to review this decision," Hackett remarked.
"Video showed that a Sunderland player is the offender, holding his opponent's shirt and dragging him to the ground."
Hackett says Chelsea should also potentially have had a penalty of their own when Cole Palmer was brought down by Luke O'Nien on the edge of the area in the 25th minute.
"Chelsea also appealed for a penalty for a foul on Cole Palmer. When looking at the video replay, the foul appeared to be outside the penalty area; however, there were images available to the official - which he didn't see - that showed that contact was in the penalty area.
"Chelsea were therefore very unfortunate not to get the penalty."
Kavanagh up to the task at Old Trafford
There was a goal fest at Old Trafford as Man Utd and Aston Villa shared an eight-goal thriller, and man-in-the-middle, Chris Kavanagh, was certainly kept busy. But he was more than up to the task with his decision-making, including when awarding two penalties during the game, says Hackett.
"Referee Kavanagh was ideally positioned to make the correct call of a penalty kick to Man Utd," Hackett said.
"He was also in a good position to accurately judge the foul which led to Villa's penalty just after the break. An excellent decision."
Hackett was also full of praise for the way Kavanagh dealt with an incident involving Ayden Heaven, but felt the official could have been stronger in admonishing Matheus Cunha.
"Ayden Heaven's challenge on Alysson as Aston Villa tried to break was a clear yellow card offence, and Kavanagh was quick to show a card to ensure there was no negative reaction by the players," Hackett concluded.
"During injury time, Matheus Cunha's outrageous act of simulation, desperately trying to win a penalty kick, should've been acted upon by the official. In any event, Kavanagh delivered a good performance. Well done."
Jason Pettigrove has been the features writer for Flashscore since 2025, utilising Opta data to form the basis of his articles. He has previously worked for high-profile football clubs, news and media outlets, both in print and digital, and can usually be found watching FC Barcelona when time permits.
