CITY SPECIAL Ref Oliver slammed as ‘mistake-ridden’

FORMER referees’ chief Keith Hackett has described Michael Oliver’s performance in City’s draw with Liverpool as ‘calamitous’ and ‘mistakeridden’.

And Hackett, himself a former top-level ref, explains the officials’ errors as being down to ‘mental fatigue’.

Oliver was criticised for missing a clear penalty when James Milner clattered into the back of Raheem Sterling when the Blues player seemed poised to score.

And he also came under fire for only showing a yellow card to Yaya Toure when the midfielder careered into Emre Can with his studs raised.

Hackett said Oliver was correct to give a penalty against Gael Clichy for a high foot. But he says he got the decisions on Toure and the Sterling penalty incident badly wrong.

“Mental fatigue, which results in the lack of sharpness and awareness – clearly evident here – was at the root of this poor performance,” said Hackett in his column in a national newspaper.

“You hear Jose Mourinho talking last week about the perils of fatigue among players but it is no different for referees and Oliver has been done no favours by his superiors.”

He pointed out that Oliver had officiated in the Chelsea v United FA Cup quarter-final on Monday, and a Europa League game in Turkey on Thursday, before taking charge of the biggest game of the Premier League weekend. Hackett said: “It was a calamitous, mistaken-ridden performance at the Etihad Stadium.” CITY face two tough trips to London that could determine their Champions League fate next season.

But Yaya Toure is delighted that the Blues are away from home, because he feels they have played their best football on their travels this season.

And the big Ivorian says that learning to break down stubborn teams at the Etihad Stadium is the next part of their evolution under Pep Guardiola.

Based on away games alone, City would be just three points behind Chelsea, after winning ten of their 14 fixtures. But their home form has seriously let them down, with seven wins and six draws from their 14 fixtures at the Etihad Stadium so far – they lie eighth in terms of home form.

And Toure says that the trip to Arsenal a week on Sunday, followed by a visit to leaders Chelsea three days later, will see City play with more freedom.

“We’ve been very strong away,” he said. “We have more space. We’re delighted to play in big stadiums because we have the space to play.