I thought the ref was good yesterday and didn't notice Barry trying to get our players sent off. Besides lets face it we saw Fabregas appeal for cards to be given enough times when he was with us.
Cheating is now an accepted part of the game - whether that's rolling around in agony when untouched or attempting to influence a ref, it's been going on for years, gradually got worse and is now inbedded in the game. I blame Klinsmann !
All who have watched those incidents again have said no goal and not a penalty. Obviously you know better!
Obviously not all. I certainly didn't. Trying watching without sky-blue tinted spectacles. I don't support Arsenal and would always like to see them lose, however, I'm not going to let that colour my judgement.
I think most of the key decisions in the game were questionable. Ramsey was fouled by Toure in the box, should have been a penalty, if it had happened anywhere else on the pitch it would have been given as a foul. I thought Silva was offside when the ball was played in by Balotelli for the City goal. RVPs disallowed goal was marginal, he was actually just about level with the defender when the ball was played in. The City handball in the area was a clear pen.
I agree they were all questionable but none were blatantly wrong: pretty unlucky to get all four against you though. Refs are always less likely to give small fouls in the box. Silva was offside when the ball was first played in and the goal should have been chalked off if he had scored directly, but he was back onside again before he actually scored and most refs would have allowed the goal RVP was pretty much exactly level which makes it a 50-50 call for the assistant Was the handball intentional? He was expecting the ball to be headed in front of him and didn't have time to move his arm - often given though.
The offsides could go either way, I can't complain about any of them. the handball was blatant and should have been given. the referee's view was so plum he saw the ball hit Richards' hand. Ball to hand is no penalty BUT when the player has time to move his hand and does not .. that is a penalty !!! As blatant as they come. The ref got that one badly wrong.
Because Gary Neville is now the worlds leading expert at football and cant be wrong say what you want but the fact that even Spurs fans are agreeing with me shows that many of the decisions were questionable at best.
For me the handball was a penalty. The ball was controlled too well for it to be an accident and the ball fell perfectly for him to clear it. http://numbersgameblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/quantifying-bias-of-phil-dowd.html If Dowd (or Dean) is refereeing an Arsenal game, run out and bet against them winning, it is a very, very good bet. Last year Dowd and Dean together worked 9 Arsenal games and the only one Arsenal won was a FA cup game against Leeds The year before 09/10 Dean worked 4 Arsenal games and Arsenal failed to win any of them either. Arsenal have failed to win the two games Dean has been the referee this year. Stats from http://www.soccerbase.com/referees/home.sd Last 2 years combined with these referees: Won 2, Drawn 5, Lost 6.
