Two fixtures at the weekend generated a lot of noise in terms of refereeing decisions: Manchester United v Brighton and Brentford v Liverpool. In each case there were incidents that can serve as good educational pieces for understanding the calls that match officials make.

Starting at Old Trafford, the yellow card for Patrick Dorgu after fouling Yakubu Minteh, when the Brighton man looked as if he was through on goal, frustrated a lot of people. Everybody screams: “Last man, you’ve got to go” – which is absolutely false. Just because you’re the last defender it doesn’t mean you have to be sent off. In this kind of incident, the referee awards a foul and then has to consider the criteria of what fits the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

There are four factors, and they are really important: the distance from goal, whether the attacking player is in possession of the ball, their direction of travel and the number of covering defenders. The key detail here is that the likelihood of Minteh getting possession is very slim. The ball is rolling through to the goalkeeper, Senne Lammens, who...