Howard Webb: 'Simon Hooper was devastated by late City-Spurs mistake'

Simon Hooper "was devastated" after not giving Manchester City a late advantage in their Premier League draw with Spurs, according to Howard Webb.

Referee Simon Hooper is surrounded by Erling Haaland, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Dias.

Referee Hooper awarded a free-kick to City in injury time after initially giving advantage, just when it looked like Jack Grealish was through on goal.

The official initially waved play on when Erling Haaland was fouled by Emerson Royal, but he halted the match once the through ball was played.

Webb is chief refereeing officer at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), and said he understood City's disbelief and disappointment at the referee's decision.

Erling Haaland was one of several City players to circle Hooper after the whistle had been blown. The Norwegian even reposted a clip of the incident on X, formerly Twitter, with the comment "Wtf".

Speaking on Mic'd Up, Webb said "We're always looking, as officials, to have that positive influence on the game, by trying to identify occasions when we can allow the game to play through an advantage.

"He decides to penalise just at the moment as the ball's about to go, he blows the whistle, and then realises that a wonderful advantage was available.

"He was devastated. He'd refereed the game really well for 93 minutes, but he knew this is going to be the only talking point. It would have been a wonderful advantage."