Clattenburg, the country’s best, was mediocre here.
Mark Clattenburg has been the outstanding British referee for some time now, and has been duly rewarded as such, officiating as he did this match, and will the Champions League final and matches in Euro 2016. His ability to control the thermostat of a match is key, and will be acutely tested in the all-Madrid European final; in the heat of the contest, even innocuous decisions can help or hinder things in this regard.
Mark Clattenburg woke up this morning, found the page in his dictionary with 'advantage' in it, ripped it out and wiped his arse with it.
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) 21 May 2016
His performance here, however, was nothing to write home about. Three poor decisions not to allow a Crystal Palace an advantage caused Pardew visible chagrin in the first half, with one of them pulling back play after Connor Wickham had the ball in the net. He faded into obscurity in the second period, a good thing for a referee, but he will need to up his game if he’s to best represent the Premier League in the tournaments to come.
