Why Sean Longstaff told Michael Oliver he’d ‘chin him’ during Leeds United v Bournemouth

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For the first time in Sean Longstaff’s career, the Leeds United midfielder had Michael Oliver as referee and that is because Oliver is a Newcastle United supporter.

Premier League rules, for obvious reasons, dictate that a referee cannot officiate a club they support and that has meant Oliver has never taken charge of a match involving Newcastle United or Sean Longstaff.

But that changed on Saturday. Oliver was given the whistle as Leeds faced Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth. He endured a difficult game in which Leeds will feel Oliver got one big decision wrong that led to a goal.

Daniel Farke said Oliver’s decision to hand Bournemouth a free-kick on the edge of the Leeds box was “much too soft”. But it was another incident that had Longstaff jokingly threatening Oliver on the pitch.

• READ MORE: The song Leeds fans sang to Tyler Adams as he was substituted on Saturday

Sean Longstaff jokes he will ‘chin’ Michael Oliver during game

Just after the break, Longstaff slammed in a gorgeous effort that deceived Bournemouth goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, flicking the Serbian goalkeeper’s left-hand post and nestling in the back of the net.

VAR looked at the goal. According to Longstaff on LUTV, it was to see if Pascal Struijk was in an offside position and if so, was he blocking Petrovic’s line of sight. While VAR looked, Longstaff spoke to Oliver.

Longstaff joked he was going to “chin” Oliver when asked by Michael Bridges: “I saw you have a little chat with Michael Oliver, obviously he’s from our area the referee, what did he say about the VAR decision?”

Longstaff replied: “He said it was because someone was in front of the goalie. I said ‘if you disallow this goal after I’ve just done a knee slide, I’m gonna chin you after the game!’ Obviously he’s a Newcastle fan.”

Sean Longstaff’s goal and assist record before Leeds move

Longstaff was probably man of the match on Saturday, given he got the assist for Joe Rodon’s header, too. Leeds will need goals from all over the pitch this season and Saturday proved they are capable of it.

It was Longstaff’s 11th Premier League goal in what was his 177th outing in England’s top flight. In his 171 games for Newcastle, Longstaff had a hand in 19 goals and will need to do more in a Leeds shirt.

Longstaff’s Premier League numbers:

But having laid on two involvements on Saturday, Longstaff is clearly showing he is up to the task, and can provide not only creativity from midfield, but a goal threat too. He hit the bar against Fulham, as well.