Debatable Decisions – Week Nine

Sunday’s round of games proved another good day for the referees of the English Premier League, just three of five games producing major debatable decisions and for the most part the officials did quite well. However, all three games would have finished with different scorelines if it wasn’t for incorrect decisions and at least one club was done out of a hard earned point. Today’s judges will be Ben and Simon. You can read part one here

Man Utd – Man City

Jonny Evans Red Card

United had it all to do, going into the second half, and their task was made all the harder by a straight red for the Northern Irish central defender who was adjudged to have hauled down Mario Balotelli when the forward was clean through on goal.

Ben: “An easy decision for Mark Clattenburg, and no arguments can be had. As it happened I was 100% sure he was going off and it really was that obvious.”

Simon: “Yeah, really was as clear as Ben says, no other choice for Clattenburg and a definite straight red. Thought that Balotelli went down a little easily though, could easily have gone on and added to his tally, but that doesn’t affect the decision.”

Comments from other judges: “Nightmare game for Evans and a fully deserved red.”

“An easy red card and I know in today’s game the striker should and will go down but it would have been nice to see someone as strong as Balotelli shrug off the challenge and smash the ball into the net.”

Overall Verdict: Correct Decision

Micah Richards Penalty Shout

With City running rampant man of the match, Richards, burst into United’s box only to be sent tumbling by what looked like a seriously clumsy tackle from Anderson, the referee waved play on as City claimed a penalty.

Ben: “It took me a few replays to make my mind up but I do think that Anderson impedes Richards and as a result brings him down.”

Simon: “Pains me to say this, but I thought this was a definite penalty. Anderson doesn’t seem to make any effort to get to the ball and just barges into Richards who had no chance of staying on his feet.”

Comments from other judges: “This isn’t as straightforward as it seems for me, Anderson is always headed there even before Richards so there was a certain inevitability about them clashing. What makes the difference for me is that Ferdinand was already there and likely to take the ball from Richards anyway. It would have been a light one to give so I’ll side with the ref here.”

“I thought it was a penalty at first viewing the replays confirm what I think.”

Overall Verdict: Incorrect Decision

Evra Tackle On Barry

The blue half of Manchester were calling for a second red card to be shown when United’s left back seemed to go in a little too enthusiastically on England midfielder, Gareth Barry, the referee felt it only worthy of a yellow.

Ben: “Much like his overall performance, it was ugly but I don’t think that it deserved anything more than the yellow it received.”

Simon: “I dunno, I’ve definitely seen tackles like this shown a straight red and I think red might have been shown if it wasn’t for the earlier red and the scoreline. However, I do like a strong tackle and though I’ve seen them given I think a yellow was just about right.”

Comments from other judges: “Not too much to say about this the ref got it spot on.”

“Deserved a yellow for the danger in it but he wasn’t showing his studs and it looked like a genuine, if poor, effort to get the ball so no red for me.”

Overall Verdict: Correct Decision

QPR – Chelsea

Helguson Penalty

The only goal of the game came from the spot and it was awarded for a clumsy David Luiz tackle on QPR striker Helguson in the 8th minute.

Ben: “Judging by things that I’ve read, I’m going to go against the grain and say that this is a dive and the more I see it, the more I think so. Luiz is trying to be clever by doing just enough to put him off but I don’t think he makes anywhere near enough contact to send Helguson sprawling. And talk about encroaching.”

Simon: “I agree with Ben. I get that players will go down if they feel contact, but similar to the Ferdinand incident with Adams, contact does not mean foul. Luiz is hustling Helguson and I think he’s well within his rights to do that, a soft penalty in my opinion.

Comments from other judges: “He’s only ever looking to knock Helguson away here and you can’t do that.”

Overall Verdict: Incorrect Decision

Bosingwa Red Card

The Portuguese wing-back suffered a Jonny Evans moment when he pulled back Shaun Wright-Philips who looked to have sprung the Chelsea offside trap and was making his way toward goal.

Ben: “Bosingwa was certainly trying to be clever by tugging back Wright-Phillips but the referee wasn’t fooled. The argument that there is cover is defeated by that cover being John Terry who is never going to reach Sweep so it’s a correct decision for me.”

Simon: “The referee had no choice, SWP is so quick that Terry had no chance of catching him so I don’t think cover comes into it. Bosingwa knew what he was doing, stopping a second goal and that means it’s a red card.”

Comments from other judges: “He was, for all intents and purposes, the last man, and he pulled SWP to the ground so no real question here for me.”

Overall Verdict: Correct Decision

Drogba Red Card

With his team down to ten men one might assume that the Ivorian would know better than to dive in two footed and stud showing with the referee just yards away.

Ben: “Looked like a truly horrific challenge live, less so in the replays. It is however reckless so Drogba was rightfully sent off.”

Simon: “My initial thought was that this was a really nasty tackle and could have caused serious injury, but as Ben says, the replays showed that it was a bad tackle, but never any chance of causing any damage. Still, well worth a red.”

Comments from other judges: “Again, out of frustration, Drogba’s just done something you can’t do in football these days. It’s not the worst tackle you’ll see but it’s worthy of the card it got.”

Overall Verdict: Correct Decision

Lampard, Luiz and Terry Penalty Shouts

In search of an equaliser and hammering at QPR’s door, despite being down to nine men, Chelsea found themselves in positions to claim for three penalties, each and every one was waved away.

Ben: On Lampard – “Looks to me like Lampard is trying to con the referee here. I don’t see what the QPR defender is doing wrong and Lampard just seems to ‘fall’ across him more than anything.” On Luiz – “Arms around the attacker equals a foul.” On Terry – “Hard to tell without a replay but the ball had gone and I’m not sure there’s enough of a foul to warrant a penalty.”

Simon: On Lampard – “Is it just me or is Lampard getting a bit of a reputation for going down a little too easily in the box? I seem to remember a similar incident in a game earlier in the season, wasn’t a penalty then and wasn’t a penalty on this occasion either.” On Luiz – “We’ve set a precedent, in weeks gone by, of giving these decisions as penalties, no change this week, holding a player like that equals a penalty.” On Terry – “I think by this stage of the game Chelsea and Terry were clutching at straws, no way was this a penalty.”

Comments from other judges: On Lampard – “We seem to be seeing a lot of this from Frank lately. Only the slightest of touches – he clearly decided that he’d be better off looking for the penalty than trying to score.” On Luiz – “He made a meal of it but the arms are around Luiz’s waste… can someone make me a shortcut for ‘you just can’t do that anymore’?” On Terry – “There may be a nudge there but not enough to give a penalty in my view. Had Chelsea spent less time looking for a penalty and more time trying to score they could have had this match.”

Overall Verdict: Correct, Incorrect (Luiz) and Correct Decisions.

Arsenal – Stoke

Chamakh Penalty Shout

Arsenal’s misfiring frontman called for a penalty when he looked to have been hauled down in the Stoke penalty area, the referee was having none of it and waved play on.

Ben: “I’m a little unsure of this one but it doesn’t seem like the ‘foul’ is stopping Chamakh getting to the ball so I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt to the referee.”

Simon: “As I said with the Luiz shout, I feel we’ve set a precedent for these sort of decisions and this one is no different. Poor old Arsenal’s run of poor decisions continues and whilst they went on to win, Chamakh could have done with one from the spot.”

Comments from other judges: “Once again the arms are around the striker… now where’s my shortcut?…”

Overall Verdict: Incorrect Decision