Phil Dowd is the referee tonight.He refereed this fixture twice before both at Anfied. He sent Steve Gerard and Andy van der Meyde off at Anfield in Liverpool 3:1 in 2006.
I'm not one that buys into all this 'who's ref' stuff.... I couldn't care who the ref is, it's down to us to perform. As far as ref's decisions go - you win some, you lose some.
I don't even bother checking who the ref is anymore. I have come to the conclusion that they are all garbage.
I thought the ref was excellent today. I can't remember one "terrible" decision that he made. Not sure why Enrique was booked but apart from that he kept his cards in his pocket until he really had to book someone. Also played the advantage well and called things back to book players after rather than blowing straight away. Good performance in my view.
Agree with that I think Enrique deserved the booking. He knew the ball was out of play and he knew the ball was high, despite this he attempted to kick it away anyway. Neither aspect is worth a booking but when combined, especially with the opposition player making a big deal out of it, and it becomes an easy booking.
