Liverpool Vs Tottenham | Ngog awarded penalty

Description of incident: The ball was bouncing on the edge of the Tottenham penalty area as Ngog came racing forward. He got his foot to the ball as Bassong, coming from inside the penalty area, made a challenge. Ngog came crashing down and the referee gave a penalty.

Date of Game: Wednesday 20th January 2010


Home Team: Liverpool | Away Team: Tottenham

Referee: Howard Webb | Linesman: Peter Kirkup & Shaun Procter-Green

Decision Type: Penalty | Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 5/5

Affect on Result: I don't believe Tottenham would have scored in the time remaining so, none | Winner: Liverpool | Loser: Tottenham

Players Involved: Sebastien Bassong (Tottenham) & David Ngog (Liverpool)

Summary: Another really tough decision. I think it's an obvious foul so there are two things that we need to take into account here. Firstly, was it inside the area? Based mainly upon Bassong's position, I believe the contact did take place inside the area. Even with a number of video replays I found it hard to know for sure - but I have only managed to find 2 different camera angles so far. Secondly, was Bassong in control of the ball? You have to say that he wasn't. The ball was almost in Gomes' hands by the time Ngog fell to the ground. I've seen them given and being honest, I've changed my verdict from right to wrong whilst writing this summary. It was such a rough challenge I think you get distracted from how hard Ngog had kicked the ball. No penalty, wrong decision by the referee.

I'm glad this game only had two controversial refereeing decisions. The toughest game to analyse yet. By a mile.

Cheers,
WB

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Liverpool Vs Tottenham | Defoe ruled offside saving Reina's blushes

Description of incident: King launched the ball forward from deep inside the Tottenham half. Defoe was making his way back onside and made no attempt to chase the ball. As it dropped 30 yards from Liverpool's goal Reina came racing out as Kyrgiakos reached the ball & passed it back to the Spanish stopper. At this point Defoe, from an onside position, came forward to challenge Reina who, in the meantime, had got his feet in a real tangle. Defoe simply rolled the ball into the empty net. As it rolled towards the line, the ref blew his whistle to award offside. Phew!

Date of Game: Wednesday 20th January 2010

Home Team: Liverpool | Away Team: Tottenham

Referee: Howard Webb | Linesman: Peter Kirkup & Shaun Procter-Green

Decision Type: Offside | Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 5/5

Affect on Result: Denied Spurs an equaliser & who's to say which way the game would have swung if it had gone to 1-1 | Winner: Liverpool | Loser: Tottenham

Players Involved: Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Jose Reina & Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Liverpool)

Summary: I've given this decision a difficulty score of 5 as I think the state of the current offside rule is almost impossible to interpret. Phase 2 onside or whatever it's called creates too much of a grey area. I'm all for going back to the simple days of blowing for offside when the ball was originally launched forward. Having said all that, assuming I'm understanding the laws of the game correctly, Defoe was not offside. Once Kyrgiakos touches the ball, Defoe is instantly onside. I'm not even sure it matters whether he'd made his way onside or not. "Phase 2" starts with the defenders touch. But even if I'm wrong there, the fact is Defoe did make his way back onside AND had made not attempt to challenge for or chase the ball prior to Kyrgiakos' touch. Tough decision, but the goal should have stood.

I actually found this decision painful to make.

Cheers,
WB

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Arsenal Vs Bolton | Gallas foul in build up to Fabregas goal

Description of incident: The move that led to Arsenal's second goal, scored by Fabregas, started with a Gallas tackle on Davies. The ref was only yards away from the tackle and allowed play to continue.

Date of Game: Wednesday 20th January 2010

Home Team: Arsenal | Away Team: Bolton Wanderers

Referee: Mark Clattenburg | Linesman: Mick McDonough & John Flynn

Decision Type: Free kick | Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 2/5

Affect on Result: I have the feeling Arsenal would have come back anyway but this made sure | Winner: Arsenal | Loser: Bolton

Players Involved: William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) & Mark Davies (Bolton)

Summary: The only positive I can provide from the referee's point of view is that his position was fantastic. But that just makes it all the more shocking that he managed to miss this foul. Not only was it a foul, it ended Davies' participation in the game. I'm not saying there was any intention to hurt Davies by Gallas but it was a stomping challenge with his studs landing on Davies' ankle. Wrong decision, free kick missed.

Cheers,
WB

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Arsenal Vs Bolton | Lee awarded penalty for Denilson foul

Description of incident: A Bolton corner dropped to Chung-Yong Lee inside the Arsenal penalty area. He rolled the ball out of his feet, lining up a shot as Denilson slid in from the side bringing him to the ground, with the ref immediately blowing for a penalty.

Date of Game: Wednesday 20th January 2010

Home Team: Arsenal | Away Team: Bolton Wanderers

Referee: Mark Clattenburg | Linesman: Mick McDonough & John Flynn

Decision Type: Penalty | Verdict: Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 1/5

Affect on Result: N/A | Winner: Arsenal | Loser: Bolton

Players Involved: Neves Denilson (Arsenal) & Chung-Yong Lee (Bolton)

Summary: This was about as easy a penalty decision that you will see and I think that was summed up by the lack of appeal & the look on Denilson's face. He slid in from the left, slightly off ground and swept both of Lee's feet away and was no where near the ball. Definite, nailed on penalty.

Cheers,
WB

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Blackburn Rovers Vs Fulham | Nevland penalty shout

Description of incident: Nevland and Samba were in a race for the ball as it bounced just inside the Blackburn penalty area. Nevland appeared to be reaching it first but he had done so by running across Samba's path and fell as though he had been pulled back. The ref was not impressed, no penalty given.

Date of Game: Sunday 17th January 2010

Home Team: Blackburn Rovers | Away Team: Fulham

Referee: Kevin Friend | Linesman: Andy Halliday & Jeremy Simpson

Decision Type: Penalty | Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 2/5

Affect on Result: If this & the offside had gone in Fulham's direction, they could have left with at least a point | Winner: Blackburn | Loser: Fulham

Players Involved: Christopher Samba (Blackburn) & Erik Nevland (Fulham)

Summary: This incident was similar to a number the penalty decisions seen in the Premiership this weekend; it was a soft challenge but if a player raises his arm across the chest of an opponent in his own penalty area, as Samba did here, he is asking for trouble. And if the player goes down, even if the touch is only minor, it has to be a penalty. The referee got this one wrong for me as well - no luck for Fulham today.

Cheers,
WB

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Blackburn Rovers Vs Fulham | Nelson goal ruled onside

Description of incident: McCarthy curled a free kick in from just inside the Fulham half, near the left touch line. Nelson escaped all markers to get a minor touch to flick the ball into the net. The protests for offside from Fulham were ignored and goal given.

Date of Game: Sunday 17th January 2010

Home Team: Blackburn Rovers | Away Team: Fulham

Referee: Kevin Friend | Linesman: Andy Halliday & Jeremy Simpson

Decision Type: Offside | Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 5/5

Affect on Result: It settled the match as a contest | Winner: Blackburn | Loser: Fulham

Players Involved: Benni McCarthy & Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn)

Summary: It's an extremely tight call, again I needed a number of replays to decide that he probably was offside. But that still makes it a wrong decision, and if I was choosing to be a lot harsher on the officials I would say that technically it looks like Nelson wasn't ever in an onside position - even if the final call was tough.

Cheers,
WB

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Bolton Vs Arsenal | Merida goal ruled onside

Description of incident: Fabregas brought the ball forward, delaying his pass to Eduardo until the very last moment and risking an offside call in the process. No call came and Eduardo's cross found its way to Merida who controlled & finished superbly.

Date of Game: Sunday 17th January 2010

Home Team: Bolton Wanderers | Away Team: Arsenal

Referee: Phil Dowd | Linesman: Mark Scholes & Patrick Keane

Decision Type: Offside | Verdict: Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 5/5

Affect on Result: N/A | Winner: Arsenal | Loser: Bolton

Players Involved: Cesc Fabregas, Da Silva Eduardo, Fran Merida (Arsenal) & Gretar Rafn Steinsson (Bolton)

Summary: This was a really tight call, so hats off to the referee and linesman for getting it right. Eduardo was played onside by Steinsson, just. And I'm only confident in that decision because of video replays combined with Sky+ pause & rewind! It's times like this where video replays would ruin the game - we could end up with a scenario where, even though the goal would be allowed by the ref, it would invariably lead to video review due to protests, delaying the game and resulting in the same decision regardless. That's only one side of the coin, obviously.

Cheers,
WB

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Bolton Vs Arsenal | Eastmond touch clearance not backpass

Description of incident: A high ball was launched forward by Bolton for Davies to race onto. As he wrestled with Vermaelen, Eastmond stabbed a toe at the bouncing ball which sent it towards Almunia and the 'keeper decided it was safe to pick up. The ref waved play on, despite the loud protests from Bolton fans and players alike.

Date of Game: Sunday 17th January 2010

Home Team: Bolton Wanderers | Away Team: Arsenal

Referee: Phil Dowd | Linesman: Mark Scholes & Patrick Keane

Decision Type: Back pass | Verdict: Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 1/5

Affect on Result: N/A | Winner: Arsenal | Loser: Bolton

Players Involved: Manuel Almunia, Craig Eastmond, Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal) & Kevin Davies (Bolton)

Summary: I didn't feel this was a difficult decision at all. So much so, that I did not feel that this decision warranted entry onto this blog. There were 4 reasons I did include it; Bolton's players, Bolton's fans, Owen Coyle & Andy Gray. All of whom voiced, at varying volume levels, their disagreement with referee Phil Dowd.

The reason I agree with the referee is the body position of Eastmond, I really do believe it was a random stab at the ball and he did not have the wherewithal to direct it into Almunia's arms. No backpass, correct decision referee.

Cheers,
WB

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Bolton Vs Arsenal | Fabregas denied 2nd penalty

Description of incident: Fabregas was wrestling with at least two Bolton defenders. As he shielded the ball, Knight slid in to challenge. The result being Fabregas tumbling inside the penalty area for the second time only for Dowd to rule no penalty for the second time as well.

Date of Game: Sunday 17th January 2010

Home Team: Bolton Wanderers | Away Team: Arsenal

Referee: Phil Dowd | Linesman: Mark Scholes & Patrick Keane

Decision Type: Penalty | Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 4/5

Affect on Result: TBD | Winner: Bolton | Loser: Arsenal

Players Involved: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) & Zat Knight (Bolton)

Summary: For the second time in the game, I feel Fabregas was denied a certain penalty.  This was a harder decision than the first as there was a forest of legs for him to see the incident through and the same was true of the linesman's view. However, once again, if a player decides to slide in, misses the ball and catches the player, it just has to be a penalty.

Cheers,
WB

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Bolton Vs Arsenal | Fabregas denied penalty

Description of incident: Fabregas raced onto a through ball as Jaaskelainen came charging out of his goal to intercept. Fabregas, heading away from goal, reached the ball first as the 'keeper slid in feet first. Fabregas tumbled but the referee ruled no penalty.

Date of Game: Sunday 17th January 2010

Home Team: Bolton Wanderers | Away Team: Arsenal

Referee: Phil Dowd | Linesman: Mark Scholes & Patrick Keane

Decision Type: Penalty | Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 2/5

Affect on Result: TBD | Winner: Bolton | Loser: Arsenal

Players Involved: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) & Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton)

Summary: This was one of those incidents where the nature of the foul probably did not warrant a penalty (Fabregas was heading away from goal, was going to struggle to retain the ball & it was only a minor touch by Jaaskelainen) however, if Fabregas gets the ball first, Jaaskelainen slides in and makes contact with him and not the ball (all of which happened), it has to be a penalty.  Similar to the Lucas penalty shout for Liverpool yesterday, only Lucas also got booked for diving!

Cheers,
WB

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Bolton Wanderers Vs Arsenal | Klasnic goal ruled offside

Description of incident: Arsenal got caught in possession around 35 yards from their own goal, with Cohen winning the ball for Bolton and playing Klasnic through. Klasnic finished beautifully from outside the Arsenal area, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.

Date of Game: Sunday 17th January 2010

Home Team: Bolton Wanderers | Away Team: Arsenal

Referee: Phil Dowd | Linesman: Mark Scholes & Patrick Keane

Decision Type: Offside | Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 2/5

Affect on Result: N/A | Winner: Arsenal | Loser: Bolton

Players Involved: Ivan Klasnic & Tamir Cohen (Bolton)

Summary: Klasnic was coming back from an offside position as the Arsenal defence were retreating, which could have made this a difficult decision. Happily, the linesman & ref rightly ruled Klasnic offside.

Cheers,
WB

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Aston Villa Vs West Ham | Carew goal ruled offside

Description of incident: Downing danced in from the left wing, taking the ball past two West Ham defenders before hitting a rasping shot from outside the area. Green couldn't keep hold of the shot and Carew raced in to poke the fumbled ball into the net...only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.

Date of Game: Sunday 17th January 2010

Home Team: Aston Villa | Away Team: West Ham

Referee: Mike Jones | Linesman: Scott Ledger & Stephen Child

Decision Type: Offside | Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 1/5

Affect on Result: N/A | Winner: West Ham | Loser: Aston Villa

Players Involved: John Carew, Stewart Downing (Aston Villa) & Robert Green (West Ham)

Summary: This was a straight forward offside decision. That does not always mean referees will get them right but fortunately for West Ham, on this occasion they did as Carew was a good yard offside when Downing hit his shot.

Cheers,
WB

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Aston Villa Vs West Ham | Kovac escapes red card

Description of incident: In the first half, the ref booked Kovac for a foul for pulling back an Aston Villa player. In the second half, Kovac slid in late on Petrov but this time he went unpunished. Moments later, he was substituted by West Ham.

Date of Game: Sunday 17th January 2010

Home Team: Aston Villa | Away Team: West Ham

Referee: Mike Jones | Linesman: Scott Ledger & Stephen Child

Decision Type: Red card | Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 2/5

Affect on Result: It denied Villa the opportunity of facing 10 men for a significant period of the second half | Winner: West Ham | Loser: Aston Villa

Players Involved: Radoslav Kovac (West Ham) & Stiliyan Petrov (Aston Villa)

Summary: I don't even know how to begin explaining how the referee got this one wrong. For starters, the first yellow card was extremely harsh; I felt Kovac used his body weight well and won the ball cleanly - so a free-kick was harsh & a booking even more so. Yet, once the referee has created this position, the decision to brandish a second yellow, followed by a red to Kovac was a must once the Croat slid in on Petrov early in the second half. He bottled that decision, maybe because he knew the first yellow was harsh. But one thing's for sure, I had to register this as a wrong decision by the referee. Kovac didn't deserve to be sent off, so I suppose the right result was achieved - but as they say, 2 wrongs never make a right.

Cheers,
WB

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