By Niall McDonald
Amongst all the great performances last night, one display unexpectedly stood – referee Michael Oliver!
Clearly taking the new referee directives to heart, from the first whistle Oliver kept the game moving and the game was all the better for it.
In the first five minutes there were probably half a dozen challenges and 50:50 tussles that would ordinarily have led to free-kicks which just got a wave of the arms or a shake of the head from the man in black.
The new guidelines look to suit Moyes’ men very well, given our team is full of players prepared to tackle and fight for the ball. We took full advantage, relieving Leicester of possession several times while they expected the whistle to blow.
Obviously Oliver did let one challenge go that he shouldn’t have – but VAR played it’s part and to his credit Oliver acted correctly and without hesitation to issue the red to Perez.
Seeing a game where players could actually compete for the ball and be rewarded for it was great to see. The crowd certainly responded to it and the increased ‘ball in play time’ was a breath of fresh air.
Certainly the refs have got this change spot on for me. Whether it suits some teams/players who are more reliant on drawing or committing minor fouls remains to be seen…!!!