Mark Clattenburg is an excellent referee but he struggled at Old Trafford where Manchester United and manager Jose Mourinho paid the penalty.

Everton fans will testify that Clattenburg has an Achilles heel, which is that he gives nothing to a side once their fans turn against him.

It was their derby match in October 2007 when the Geordie dug his heels in and ignored clear offences by Liverpool players and now United fans know the same.

Mark Clattenburg is an excellent referee but he struggled at Old Trafford on Saturday

Clattenburg wrongly sent off Ander Herrera during Manchester United's draw with Burnley

Matteo Darmian was tripped by Burnley's Jon Flanagan just inside the penalty area right on half time but Clattenburg waved away the appeals which clearly incensed the United faithful and their manager Mourinho, who could not control his frustration and was sent to the stands.

To be fair to Clattenburg, the contact by Flanagan was fractional and the reaction by Darmian was extreme which may have caused doubt in the referee's mind.

There was no such allowance for Clattenburg when he incorrectly dismissed Ander Herrera for a second yellow card after the midfielder slipped when approaching a tackle on Dean Marney. The decision cannot be appealed as it was the second yellow card and so Herrera will miss United's next game.

The decision cannot be appealed and so Herrera will miss United's next game against Swansea

United boss Jose Mourinho was also sent to the stands during the 0-0 draw at Old Trafford

Clattenburg was not alone in struggling to decipher fair from foul play inside the penalty area; equally experienced officials Martin Atkinson, Anthony Taylor and Andre Marriner struggled as well.

When you add the decisions of Bobby Madley at White Hart Lane you realise just how tough the job has become.

Atkinson enjoyed some fortune when he missed Sunderland's Lamine Kone fouling Alexis Sanchez as Arsenal ran out easy winners meaning his error was not highlighted, whilst Marriner had three tight penalty decisions in the excellent Crystal Palace versus Liverpool game.

Anthony Taylor somehow waved aside a clear penalty for Everton against West Ham

I could see why none were awarded and as doubt existed he was probably correct but had he given the last one for a challenge on Wilfried Zaha it would have been tough to argue.

Taylor somehow waved aside a clear penalty for Everton when West Ham's Angelo Ogbonna blocked Idrissa Gueye in the dying minutes.

What is clear is that the reaction of players to the slightest of contact is making referee's decisions so hard that they appear to have agreed not to award 'soft' penalties.

Bobby Madley awarded Spurs a soft penalty when Vincent Janssen threw himself to the floor

However, Bobby Madley doesn't seem to be working to that principle having awarded Tottenham their penalty when Vincent Janssen threw himself to the floor under pressure from Leicester's Robert Huth.

Ironically Madley could have picked any number of other incidents when holding by Wes Morgan and Huth was clear – that he didn't will encourage two serial offenders to continue to hold opponents next week.

One last thing; it was good to see common sense prevail when Nolito put his head into the face of West Brom's Craig Dawson and referee Lee Mason merely showed the yellow card.

There was nothing violent about the act and a caution was sufficient punishment but credit to Dawson for not over reacting to get Nolito dismissed.