I agree - but I bet he'll get a one-game ban anyway. He shouldn't. Could free up a World Cup spot if he can cover as third keeper.
It doesn't matter if it was going in it not, he deliberately hand balled to prevent a goal. If he thought it was going wide he wouldn't have touched it. Therefore it's a cynical professional foul that's worthy of a ban.
exactly Sol handballed it as he thought it was going in - otherwise he wouldnt have - He should get Henrys ban instead.
But the law is about denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, not denying what the player believes is a clear goalscoring opportunity. Surely it's up to the referee to decide what is a clear goalscoring opportunity and what isn't, not the player?
The hapless and equally clueless ref. Andre Marriner HAS NOT been stood down for next weekend. He has been given the meaningless PL game between Southampton v. Newcastle Utd. IMO he should have been dropped to 4th official duties for the rest of the season.
Why? It was a freak one-off error which could happen with any ref. Why should he be punished? It's not like he wasn't looking or neglected to pay attention. He had to make a quick decision and probably realised he'd got it wrong instantly but you can't change your mind as a ref. I'd rather see refs punished for the deliberately wrong decisions which are made every game and which are one big thing wrong with the modern game.
It is not the first time that he has messed up @ Chelsea this season. He was also the ref. who gave Chelsea a last minute penalty against WBA when it wasn't. Cost WBA the game and possibly Steve Clarke his job. Wba were on a roll until that point. I have never rated AM and those 2 instances are massive cock ups. But back to saturday. Giibbs was well away from the Ox when he handled it. It was a very bad day for him made worse by the fact he would not listen / change his mind even though both sets of players told him incl. Ox.
The original error was forgiveable but to not reverse the decision when it was pointed out to him - what the hell did he think the Ox was on about- no player is going to say 'it wasn't him it was me' unless they mean it!!
He had no choice apparently, once he's shown a player a straight red, he's not allowed to change his mind.
If so that is crazy. He's not changing his mind about the offence or the need for a red card, just recognising that he has penalised the wrong player
Yes he can. He has until the game re-starts to change his mind. After that it then goes to the panel to cancel any red card wrongly issued.
But with Arsenal 3-0 down it was best to leave the OX on the pitch more than defender Gibbs. Arsenal had to chase the game but they did not. They just gave up.
Well done, FA... Arsenal then subsequently moved to have that offence downgraded on appeal, claiming the England midfielder had not in fact technically prevented a clear goalscoring opportunity as the shot from Chelsea's Eden Hazard looked to be going just wide. That claim was also upheld, meaning both Gibbs and Oxlade-Chamberlain will be able to face Swansea. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2588242/Alex-Oxlade-Chamberlain-Kieran-Gibbs-face-no-punishment-red-card-Chelsea-appeal.html
