Southampton 3-2 West Ham: Four takeaways
By Ben King
Referee Lee Mason’s performance
It’s hard not to talk about the big decisions made by Lee Mason in a match that had two penalties and a red card.
Mason got the big calls right in my view as West Ham did themselves no favours throughout the match. We don’t need to go into detail about Arnautovic elbowing Jack Stephens. There was clear intent shown and it was an obvious sending off.
The two penalties awarded were also stonewall. West Ham really could have won this game if they remained more composed and disciplined.
Two decisions I thought Mason could have dealt with better were Tadic’s early challenge on Chicharito and Mark Noble’s two-footed tackle he got all wrong against Lemina.
What left off Tadic seeing red is how early the game was and referees often like to keep the game 11 vs 11 for a fair portion of the match but I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had been sent his marching orders. One word for Noble’s challenge. Nasty. You only need to look at Lemina’s social media to see the gash it left on the 23-year-old’s leg.
Mason’s performance was typical of many referees we see in the Premier League. Gets some calls right and gets some calls wrong. If only VAR was introduced in England this season…