Aberdeen beat Dundee United at Pittodrie in dramatic fashion on Saturday night, but how did referee Steven McLean and the rest of the officiating team perform?
I’ll start off by saying I actually thought overall McLean – supported on VAR by Gavin Duncan – performed well in a Premiership game the Dons won 1-0 via Peter Ambrose’s late finish.
I think McLean got all of the big decisions right and kept a good lid on the match in terms of fouls.
My biggest criticism of the referee was his failure to control the time-wasting from visitors Dundee United throughout the game.
From minute one, every goal kick and throw-in was taking way too long to be played.
I understand United manager Jim Goodwin clearly wants to use a long throw-in as a tactical set-piece, but Will Ferry was walking from one end of the pitch to the other to take every throw in.
If you held the ball in your hands for that length of time when actually taking the throw-in, the referee would get involved.
Twice throughout the game, the referee signalled he would be taking no more time-wasting, once to Ferry and once to the away goalkeeper, Jack Walton – yet no cautions were awarded in the instances which followed.
If the referee had dished out an early yellow, it would’ve put a stop to the time-wasting.
VAR got offside call correct
After taking the lead, the Dons were awarded a penalty in added time, when Shayden Morris slipped through goalscorer Ambrose, who was really strong to hold off the defender before he was clearly dragged down in the box.
Having been in line with the pass from Morris, I did think Ambrose had moved slightly early. A fairly long VAR check followed, where an offside was awarded.
It was a tight call, but the right decision was eventually reached.
Holt should have been made to leave field after late Rubezic collision
The last point I would like to make is, just before the last kick of the game, there was a fairly heavy collision between Slobodan Rubezic and Kevin Holt, where both physios entered the field of play.
Rubezic received treatment, but Holt waved away the physios.
But if a physio enters the field of play, then the player has to go off – if that wasn’t the case, then physios would come on every time a player goes down.
Holt should’ve been made to go off by the referee.
Thankfully for the Dons, nothing came from the resulting Dundee United long throw-in and they saw out the game to win.
Finlay Elder was a registered referee for six years and a category 5 official from 2019, with experience in the Highland League, Juniors and Club Academy.
Conversation