Debatable Decisions : Week eleven

Week Eleven and the decisions continue to come thick and fast, a referee’s work is never done, but thankfully they have us to help them out and point them in the right direction.The Hand of Gos, another Suarez decision and the softest free kick QPR are ever likely to get, all included in this week’s blog.

Man Utd – Sunderland

Hernandez Penalty ShoutManchester United’s Mexican hitman latched on to a neat pass from Darren Fletcher and looked set to fire at goal only to end up on his backside, claiming that the attention being paid by Sunderland’s Sebastian Larsson was penalty worthy.

Simon: “I included this because Hernandez seemed to look towards the referee and then give off a little bit, but the fact none of his teammates joined in on the protests says it all. Definitely not a penalty, lost control of the ball and went down far too easily. Good refereeing, because we’ve all seen those given.”

Ben: “Would have been a horrendous decision if this was given, Larsson simply gets his body between Hernandez and the ball. It’s a contact sport and there was no foul here.”

Comments from other judges: “Hernandez gave a look at the referee but it was a hopeful look rather than a “I was fouled look”, no way a penalty.” & “I have to go against the grain here and say that Larsson makes enough contact for this to be a penalty.”

Overall Verdict: Correct Decision

QPR – Man City

Free-kick In Build Up To QPR OpenerQPR’s opening goal came from a set piece, a set piece awarded to the Londoners for a foul awarded by the assistant referee who felt that Kolarov had clipped the heals of the eventual goal-scorer Jay Bothroyd.

Simon: “Look at the position of the linesman in that video, he’s staring straight at the incident and gives a free kick for Bothroyd tripping over his own feet. What was a poor decision becomes an atrocious decision when you see how clear it was. Woeful.”

Ben: “Really awful decision. I like to side with the officials whenever I can but the linesman should have got that one right, really poor decision making I’m loath to help improve City’s goal difference total but I can’t go against them on this one.”

Comments from other judges: “Wow, what a horrendous decision by the linesman he was right next to the challenge and still couldn’t tell he tripped over his own feet amazing.” & “In this case, I can barely make out any contact. Very soft free-kick.”

Overall Verdict: Incorrect Decision

Helguson Goal Offside

A fortuitous deflection off Helguson took Bothroyd’s header past City goalkeeper Joe Hart. Helguson was well ahead of most of the Manchester City defenders and their natural reaction was that the Icelandic forward was in an offside position when the ball struck him, the officials disagreed and allowed the goal.

Simon: “City players claiming this as offside purely because of how far forward he was and just goes to show that they had absolutely no idea whether he was actually offside or not, he was probably a yard or two onside thanks to poor positioning by a defender at the far post.”

Ben: “I can see why the City players think he’s offside but in truth, he was clearly on and fortunately this linesman made the correct call.”

Comments from other judges: “He was way onside so I assume the City players did not see their own man playing him on.” & “You can see that when Bothroyd heads it forward, Helguson is being played onside. Goal rightly stands.”

Overall Verdict: Correct Decision

Newcastle – Everton

Gosling HandballWith Newcastle leading the game by a single goal Everton pushed forward in a desperate search for an equaliser. Louis Saha’s drive from outside the box looked to be on target, but the intervention of former Toffee, Dan Gosling’s arm sent the ball wide and what looked like a penalty was signalled as a corner by the officials.

Simon: “Going to cut the referee some slack and say that there were two players obstructing his view of this incident, however, it was as definite a handball as you’re likely to see and the penalty, if scored, would have drawn Everton level. A big, big decision and as so often is the case, it went with the team who seem to have been having all the luck recently.”

Ben: “Gosling saved it, this is one handball that I’m certain should have been given. Gosling has time to move his hand and decides to leave it so the ball cannons against it. Like my colleague though, I’m not sure I expected either linesman or referee to spot it. Frustrating call but understandable.”

Comments from other judges: “Was easily a penalty, question is do you consider the referee’s view to be blocked or was it a poor decision because the referee was not in the right place?” & “The rules are that handball must be deliberate. Gosling’s arm is flailing, but does he deliberately try to handle the ball? It’s hard to tell. I’m going to say he doesn’t.”

Overall Verdict: Incorrect Decision

Ameobi Penalty ShoutDespite holding a slender advantage Newcastle continued to send men forward and fashion chances, Ameobi’s was only a half chance, an attempt at a header from a right wing cross, but he failed to connect and replays seemed to show a tug on his shirt that might have affected his jump.

Simon: “There’s a slight tug on his shirt, but there are seconds between the hand leaving the shirt and Ameobi’s body shifting to make it look as if he was tugged. Would have been harsh to give this one, even though there was “contact”. Yawn.”

Ben: “I don’t believe you can seriously consider giving a penalty for this, the Everton defender does put pressure on Ameobi but there’s not nearly enough of it to warrant a chance from 12 yards.”

Comments from other judges: “No way was this a penalty contact is minimal and accidental.” & “This is another one where I might be going against the grain of opinion. I’m not sure what Hibbert’s doing. He impedes Ameobi’s jump and for me, that’s a penalty.”

Overall Verdict: Correct Decision

Norwich – Aston Villa

Handball In Build Up To Villa GoalIn Villa’s own half and some time before the ball actually found the back of the net, but in winning the ball back during a Norwich attack Villa left-back Stephen Warnock seemed to block the ball with his arm before starting the attack that lead to Villa’s equaliser.

Simon: “I know 30 seconds or so pass between the handball and the goal, but Villa should never have been in a position to score the goal, a free kick should have been awarded for a blatant handball. What does the referee think it hits, there’s no way it’s ball to hand because of the height at which the ball is played. Shocking decision.”

Ben: “A free-kick should definitely have been given as Warnock’s hand wasn’t in a natural position. It’s a short range but I’m not sure why Warnock’s hand is where it is. If you’ve got it in that sort of a position, then you’d expect handball to be given.”

Comments from other judges: “Although it looks like he did not intentionally handle the ball if I was the referee I would have given Norwich a freekick, but it was a tough call.” & “Usually, when the ball hits a player’s hand(s) at point blank range, we say it would be harsh to give handball because he couldn’t get his hands out of the way. In this case, he raises his hands to the ball. Therefore, that should be a free-kick.”

Overall Verdict: Incorrect Decision

Blackburn – Chelsea

Sturridge Penalty ShoutChris Samba in a foot race with Daniel Sturridge, there’s only going to be one winner there, right? Wrong, the Blackburn centre-back held his own with Chelsea’s spritely younger winger, keeping pace as they entered the area, but resorting to a tug at the last minute and that was Sturridge’s invitation to go down.

Simon: “We’ve seen them given. Doesn’t mean it’s a penalty though. Slight tug and definite contact, but not enough to affect Sturridge’s run and not enough to warrant a penalty. I notice the commentator mentions the fact there is contact, and? You’re allowed to make contact, you just aren’t allowed to foul players. The contact argument is really starting to get my goat.”

Ben: “Samba accidentally kicks the back of Sturridge’s leg but upon feeling it, I feel he threw himself down. An accident is not enough to rule out a penalty but I don’t think there was enough force to seriously impede on Sturridge. Looking for it. No penalty.”

Comments from other judges: “In my eyes this is not a penalty and simply yet another case of a cheating footballer.” & “Arm in the back? Check. Tangle of legs? Check. Penalty.”

Overall Verdict: Correct Decision

Arsenal – West Brom

Thomas Penalty ShoutArsenal have had an awful lot of decisions against them this season so it makes a big change to see the only decision of the game discussing a decision they might have had in their favour. Former Arsenal youth teamer, Jerome Thomas, was shaping to shoot when he was bundles over by a very clumsy looking tackle from Arsenal centre back Koscielny.

Simon: “We’ve seen plenty of dodgy penalties given for minimal contact, in recent weeks, then someone basically pushes someone over in the area and it’s not given, consistency ftw. I honestly have no idea how the referee didn’t award this, Koscielny just barges into Thomas and there’s not even an attempt to win the ball.”

Ben: “This is an odd one because there doesn’t look to be an awful lot in it to me, it might just be one of those I see different to everyone else – of which there seem to be many! Koscielny cuts across Thomas but I’m not sure there is really much of a foul, the players just kind of hit each other.”

Comments from other judges: “Should have been a penalty Thomas gets taken out.” & “Again, what does a player need to do to get a penalty? Koscielny barely makes an acquaintance with the ball. He just ends Thomas’s run. That should be a penalty.”

Overall Verdict: Incorrect Decision

Liverpool – Swansea

Kuyt Offside Goal

Dutchman Dirk did what Liverpool had struggled to do all afternoon when he nodded a loose ball into the back of the Swansea net late in the match, unfortunately for him the lineswoman had raised her flag and ruled the goal out for offside.

Simon: “There were a lot of cries of discontent when this was disallowed, but I have no idea why. Kuyt was a good yard offside and it was a good call by the official, I think he knew he was offside too because he didn’t give off quite as much stink as you would expect.”

Ben: “The sexist brigade were out in full force at the weekend for this call, falling over themselves to big up Sian Massey. It’s a good call, Kuty was clearly off. It won’t happen but I’d definitely like to see the same sort of praise for linesmen when they get it right too.”

Comments from other judges: “In real time I thought he was on but it was a good spot by the lineswoman and without being too controversial the decision shows that women do know the offside rule and know it better than some men.” & “Sian Massey is an excellent referee’s assistant and she got this one spot on.”

Overall Verdict: Correct Decision

Suarez Penalty ShoutWith all but the last kick of the game Charlie Adam sent a beautifully weighted and accurate through ball over the top of the defence and into the path of Luis Suarez. The Liverpool forward connected weakly and fell awkwardly, claiming that a push had put him off and claiming a penalty. The ref was having none of it and TV replays raised questions about whether the contact, if there was any, actually took place in the area.

Simon: “I think the referee bottled this one because of the player involved and how late it was in the game. Not a penalty, let’s get that out of the way, but a definite free kick and a last ditch chance for Liverpool. I get the fact Suarez has dived or made a meal of a few tackles, but it’s starting to look like his behaviour has been taken on board by referees and that’s inappropriate, especially when it affects big decisions like this.”

Ben: “I can’t agree with Simon on this one, I don’t think the referee bottled it, I simply think that he didn’t see a foul. Having said that, I do think it was a foul – obviously not a penalty – but it’s not a huge push and so maybe the referee just didn’t see it. I’d like the referees to get the big calls right but if this type of treatment Suarez is getting makes him think twice before cheating in future, then it could be a blessing in disguise.”

Comments from other judges: “No penalty and no foul Suarez seems to be involved in an incident every week and his reputation may be making officials believe that he goes down easy and on this occasion he did dive.” & “It’s not a penalty shout. But it is a free-kick shout. And the defender would have to have gone.”

Overall Verdict: Correct Decision