A former head of PGMOL has urged the Premier League to investigate the high number of stoppages during Liverpool’s thrilling win over Newcastle at St James’ Park on Monday night.
The match, already tense due to the Alexander Isak transfer saga, lived up to expectations with five yellow cards issued by referee Simon Hooper, who also sent off Anthony Gordon for a reckless tackle on Virgil van Dijk.
Rio Ngumoha came off the bench to net the winner in the 10th minute of added time. According to OptaJoe, the ball was in play for just 40.8% of the match— the lowest in a Premier League fixture since Stoke’s 3-0 win over Blackburn in February 2010.
Hackett demands inquiry into time-wasting and stoppages
Speaking to Football Insider, former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett criticized the excessive interruptions during the game, in which 32 fouls were called and three Newcastle players left the pitch due to injury.
“This kind of statistic is unacceptable and offers poor value for fans,” Hackett said. “The Premier League should investigate where time was lost. With that data, they can create a strategy to address it.”
He raised the possibility that one team may have deliberately slowed down the game to cope with their opponent’s strength, questioning delays at throw-ins, corners, and free kicks. He also suggested reviewing how long substitutions and injuries took, and how much the referee’s decisions contributed to the slow pace.
While Hackett didn’t place blame on Simon Hooper—who he described as a referee who typically allows games to flow—he noted that officials still play a key role in ensuring adequate added time to maintain fair play.
“The league must treat this as a serious issue—it can’t be ignored,” Hackett concluded.
An unusual match, not a new trend
The match began with a physical edge, as Joelinton and Kieran Trippier both avoided early bookings before Ryan Gravenberch was rightly shown a yellow. Despite the unusually high number of fouls and cards, this match seems more like an exception than part of a broader pattern.
So far this season, the Premier League has averaged 21.75 fouls per game, with 435 fouls across the first 20 matches. The average number of yellow cards sits at 3.4 per match, and Anthony Gordon’s red was just the third of the season.
Hackett’s frustration is understandable, especially with the match extending beyond 100 minutes, but the data indicates that this was more of a one-off rather than a sign of growing disruption across the league.
Still, the low ball-in-play time didn’t detract from the game’s intensity. It was full of drama, and Ngumoha’s late strike ensured Liverpool kept their perfect start to the season—joined only by Arsenal and Spurs after two rounds.
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