Aberdeen made a dramatic late comeback to draw 2-2 with BK Hacken in Gothenburg and take control of their Europa League play-off tie – but how was the refereeing performance in the first leg?
The Dons, and Red Army, are going to come across more varied styles of refereeing this season with European group stage action – in either the Europa League or Conference League – guaranteed.
Thursday’s game in Sweden was officiated by a team of Slovakian officials, assisted by a Polish team of video assistant referees (VAR), with Filip Glova the main man in charge.
Referee Glova was incredibly inconsistent with cards in poor showing
His first big decision of the match came when Aberdeen centre-back Slobodan Rubezic picked up an early booking in the 17th minute for catching a Hacken player in a fair tackle.
I initially thought he had made a clean challenge from my position behind the goals inside the ground, and I certainly didn’t think in any circumstance it was an offence worthy of the booking the referee (eventually) gave.
Aberdeen manager Barry Robson would then find also himself in the book just before the 25th minute.
Again, as previously mentioned this season, this came without a warning from the referee. It would be far better in my view if whistlers, like they do with players, took the time to speak to coaches and tell them what they expect from them by way of a warning.
Referee Glova would, however, rightly award a yellow card to Aberdeen’s Dante Polvara for a high challenge on Even Hovland.
If the home player had planted his foot on the ground, then it would’ve been a red, but both players had their feet up challenging for the ball.
Polvara was entitled to challenge – it was his timing which caused the problem.
I thought the referee, throughout the game, was incredibly inconsistent with his cards, though.
Several Hacken players were lucky to avoid bookings for stopping promising attacks as Aberdeen looked to break.
The referee was quick to flash his yellow cards within the first half hour, but after that he let a lot more go in the game, forgiving things which should have been punished.
The end of the game was chaotic, and, in the final minutes, BK Hacken would be reduced to 10 and Aberdeen would, correctly, have a winner disallowed for offside.
I thought both of the yellows for Hacken defender Johan Hammar were spot on – the handball for the first one and foul on Miovski were both promising Dons attacks and worthy of bookings.
Bojan Miovski did sell the second booking rather well, but I think there was enough in it for it to be a foul.
I can see why, within laws, Jack MacKenzie was ruled to have handled ball
There were both penalty checks and a penalty awarded at the Bravida Arena.
Initially, there would be a quick check for a spot-kick after a challenge from Jack MacKenzie, with VAR backing the ref’s on-field decision to play on.
This was the correct call in my opinion, as MacKenzie won the ball.
After Aberdeen went 1-0 down, things would go from bad to worse when they did have a penalty awarded against them.
The referee initially did not give a penalty, but was advised by VAR to head to the monitor.
It was Jack MacKenzie once again involved for a potential handball following a Hacken corner.
My first reaction was no penalty, and it didn’t seem to be an obvious handball (or, frustratingly, a clear-and-obvious error from the official).
There were certainly plenty of big shouts from the Hacken players at the time, but I didn’t see much in it.
Once the referee was sent to the monitor it usually means he is going to overturn his decision, of course, but I thought MacKenzie was incredibly unlucky to have the ruling go against him on review.
From the slowed-down replay I have seen, the ball just seems to land on the arm of MacKenzie, grazing it – and the first time I saw it at full speed I wasn’t even sure it had hit his arm at all.
He was completely unaware where the ball was, but unfortunately with the laws of the game now, I can see why the referee has given it, though I didn’t personally think it was a penalty.
One piece of good refereeing in what was a fairly poor performance was the decision made by the referee when BK Hacken penalty-scorer Ibrahim Sadiq went down injured following a clean Aberdeen tackle.
The winger was off the pitch before rolling back on to the pitch as Aberdeen attacked.
The ball even went out for an Aberdeen throw-in, and the referee still allowed play to continue.
It is not often you see a referee completely ignore a supposed injury, but the fact the player was off the pitch and rolled back on to it perhaps suggests an ulterior motive to him going down in the first place.
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
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