Ok, bear with me on this one, but here is my conspiracy theory.
The linesman’s name is Lee Betts. He, apparently, gave the penalty and ignored the ball going out of play for a corner by about 3 miles.
A quick Google search shows that he lives in the Norfolk area.
This is confirmed by a Norwich Evening News article from December 2022 reported on him visiting a college in Norwich to give a presentation. The report indicates that he is local to the Norwich / Norfolk area (going to school / college there, etc.). Also, he is a member of the Norwich Referees Association.
Search for the name Lee Betts on Facebook and the first result that appears is for someone of that name living in Bury St Edmunds. A distance of only 42 miles from Norwich. The Facebook profile is very sparse. Only 3 friends. No personal information other than living in Bury St Edmund’s, no posts and so on. Basically no activity on Facebook by this person since 2014, as if it had been abandoned and forgotten about by someone who, through his occupation, needed to keep a low profile social media status.
Betts’ LinkedIn profile has him living in Spixworth near Norwich. It is not beyond the possibility that this is the same person and that he has moved closer to Norwich since 2014.
A list from the Office of National Statistics shows the Betts is a very uncommon surname, not being mentioned in the top 500.
Although he refereed lower division matches a couple of years earlier he only became a premier league referee during the 2012/13 season.
So, we have a referee living in Norfolk, becoming a Premier League referee in 2012/13, and an abandoned Facebook account with last known activity in 2014 from a person of the same name living in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk very close to Norfolk.
So what, I hear you say. Well that Facebook account has a very interesting profile picture - a massive red a white You’ll Never Walk Alone banner.
A coincidence?