Hull City Vs Manchester City | Clean sheet for referee

Date of Game: Saturday 6th February 2010

Home Team: Hull City | Away Team: Manchester City

Referee: Phil Dowd | Linesman: Nigel Bannister & Stephen Artis

Summary: In an incident packed match, there were no major refereeing decisions on the game's defining moments, so a clean sheet for Mr Dowd.



Think I've missed something? Drop me an email or tweet me or post a comment below and open up the debate to a wider audience.

Cheers,
WB

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Everton Vs Sunderland | Cahill goal ruled onside

Description of incident: Fellaini picked the ball up on the left hand side of the Sunderland penalty area. Moving the ball onto his right foot, he curled a cross in towards goal which Cahill flicked on into the far corner of the net. There wasn't much protest and the goal was ruled onside.

Date of Game: Wednesday 27th January 2010

Home Team: Everton | Away Team: Sunderland

Referee: Phil Dowd | Linesman: Mick McDonough & Scott Ledger

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

Affect on Result: Set Everton on their way but too difficult to say which way the game would have gone if this goal had not stood | Winner: Everton | Loser: Sunderland

Players Involved: Tim Cahill & Marouane Fellaini (Everton)

Summary: It was a really tough offside decision to make but from simply seeing one specific camera angle of the goal makes it clear that Cahill was definitely offside as the ball was lobbed towards him. I don't place much blame on the referee however it is arguably a decision you would expect your linesman to get right. Unfortunately between them they conspired to get this one wrong.

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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