A referee wore a camera for the first time in an English Premier League match as Crystal Palace beat up Manchester United 4-0.
Footage from the device worn by Australian referee Jarred Gillett on Monday (Tuesday AEST), dubbed the RefCam, was not broadcast live but will be wound into a program made by the league to show the ups and downs of refereeing at the highest level.
What it will also show is a close-up of United’s woeful defending.
Defenders backed off Michael Olise and allowed him to stride forward unchallenged and score the opener after 13 minutes.
Jean-Philippe Mateta made it 2-0 five minutes before halftime when he skinned Jonny Evans and hammered the ball into the roof of the net.
The United defence failed to deal with a ball into the box and Tyrick Mitchell slid in to poke home a third nearly an hour in.
The fourth came soon after when Casemiro was dispossessed by Daniel Munoz, who cut the ball back for Olise to score his second.
It was a particularly rough day for Casemiro, with United’s captain for the day also having two goals chalked off.
United could claim they were missing captain Bruno Fernandes, as well as regulars Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford, but they were still dominated by a side that started the day six places behind them in the table.
The defeat was United’s 13th in the league. They remained in eighth spot, outside the automatic European places.
Erik ten Hag’s men have three more league games to go before facing Manchester City in the FA Cup final on May 25. The winners of the cup qualify for the Europa League.
Palace remained in 14th place in the Premier League.
Source Agencies
