Wolves substitutions against Aston Villa should not have caused any difficulties for the refereeing team, according to Keith Hackett.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official told Football Insider that he found it “difficult to understand” why the refereeing team was confused after a three-minute delay in proceedings after Goncalo Guedes was substituted.
Guedes was taken off by manager, Vitor Pereira, as Wolves looked to see out an important win over their Midlands rivals.
The match was a tense affair, and Wolves should have seen their second goal disallowed, according to Hackett.
Wolves substitutions cause unnecessary confusion for experienced refereeing team
In the 71st minute, with the score at 1-0, Wolves took off Guedes and Rayan Ait-Nouri, and brought on Tommy Doyle and Rodrigo Gomes.
After Guedes left the pitch and went to the bench, referee Andy Madley was advised by the VAR team to count how many players Wolves had on the pitch.
Following conversations between staff of both teams, and the players, Madley finally came to the conclusion that both sides had 11 men on the pitch, and allowed Gomes and Doyle to leave the side-lines.
“On substitutions there is a form that indicates who is leaving and who is entering the field of play.
“Between the fourth official and the referee it is difficult to understand how they were confused.
“The fourth official keeps a record of all substitutes, so one wonders if they are doing the job why they did not realise that a player had left the field of play.”
Wolves would make the most of Villa’s poor performance by securing a vital three points in their fight against relegation.
Following a 12th minute opener from Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Matheus Cunha, who has seen plenty of speculation over his future at the Molineux Stadium, would score a winner in the 97th minute.
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