Premier League referee Lee Mason will take charge of the Carling Cup Semi-Final First Leg match between Manchester City and Liverpool. Darren Cann and Andy Halliday will run the lines while Michael Oliver is chosen as the fourth official.
Lee Mason
The 40-year-old Bolton born ref has been officiating in England’s top league since 2006.
Controversy
Mason and his assistant referees came under criticism from Manchester United management in December 2010 for allowing a last-minute equaliser scored by Birmingham City to stand.
A Birmingham cross into United’s penalty area appeared to hit Nikola Zigic’s arm and Lee Bowyer slid the ball home despite appearing to be offside. Birmingham manager Alex McLeish defended the decision, saying Bowyer was not offside and that Mason would have been ‘harsh if he had penalized Zigic for deliberate handball.
Season 2011/12
Mason has been in charge of 18 games. He’s issued 51 yellow and two red cards. The reds were shown in one game when he sent off Roysten Drenthe (Everton) and Ross Turnbull (Chelsea) in one of this seasons earlier Carling Cup games. Chelsea went on to beat the Toffee’s 2-1.
Let’s hope, for everyone’s sake Mason has a good game.
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