Howard Webb Reveals His One Mistake Was A Penalty For Manchester United

Howard Webb famously managed to not send a player off for a karate kick in a World Cup final, but it's not the decision that most plays on his mind.

Webb was the man in the middle in the 2010 World Cup final during Spain and Netherlands, when Nigel de Jong landed a kick in the chest of Xabi Alonso.

Somehow the former Manchester City defensive midfielder avoided a red card, in what was a very busy game for the referee, and with no VAR back then, the Dutchman got away with it completely.

However, Webb, who was accused of bias towards Manchester United during his career, so much so a punter once bet on him being the club's manager, didn't name the final in South Africa as the mistake that plays on his mind.

That is a penalty that he awarded to United, during a game with Tottenham Hotspur in which they found themselves 2-0 down at half time, at Old Trafford.

United rallied to win 5-2 but the comeback was kicked off by a controversial kick penalty, when Michael Carrick was adjudged to have been brought down by Heurelho Gomes, that Webb revealed was the one decision he wishes he could change.

"The one that stands out is one where in the game I knew I got it wrong," the former ref told the Athletic last year, "It was a Premier League game at Old Trafford - Manchester United versus Tottenham Hotspur in 2009.

Gomez gets to the ball before Carrick. Image: PA Images

"I could see Carrick got there first and then the goalkeeper clattered into him. It was really an easy penalty award. 

" I was expecting the usual cursory appeal that you get from the players, not the huge look of absolute astonishment and amazement and incredulousness on the look of Gomes. 

"It was obvious within seconds I'd got the decision wrong. There was something more to this.

"I was left with the decision I had taken with no independent evidence that I'd got it wrong other than a gut feeling, and I was just hoping that Ronaldo would miss the penalty, but he didn't."

After Ronaldo slotted home the penalty, Wayne Rooney scored twice, Ronaldo got another and former Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov rounded things off to make it 5-2.

The referee was hoping that his thoughts were wrong and the penalty wasn't actually a mistake, but as the full time whistle went he soon got a huge hint it was an error, because the tv cameraman ran up to him and not one of the players as they left the pitch.

"When he misses all those players and runs up to you, as a ref, it's not a good feeling.

"You just know you have a world of pain coming your way."

This assault wasn't the mistake Webb mentioned. Image: PA Images

Webb's supposed bias towards Sir Alex Ferguson's team even led to the first ever fine for a player due to something they posted on Twitter.

It came just over 11 years ago, when then Liverpool forward Ryan Babel posted a meme of the referee in a United shirt, following an FA Cup game.

Liverpool lost to their rivals after they were awarded a penalty in the second minute, and Steven Gerrard was later sent off, in the second half.

No matter what Babel, or anyone else thinks of those decisions, Webb clearly doesn't think they were as bad as that penalty against Spurs, or presumably De Jong's kick in the chest.