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I`d Have Given Two Penalties...
Posted 07/05/09 14:30
So, after a game which was effectively over inside a quarter of an hour and included one contentious decision, all dials were turned up to eleven at Stamford Bridge.
It wasn't the greatest game of all time, but for sheer theatre, drama and controversy, it was simply sensational.
For games of such import I watch and make the odd note, just in case I need to scribe something the following day. On Wednesday night, I had to fetch a new notebook.
Some are saying it was one of the worst refereeing performances they have ever seen. Perhaps an exaggeration, but Tom Henning Ovrebo certainly didn't cover himself in glory. That being said, I think I could offer one or two crumbs of explanation for a couple of decisions.
I don't like to do this column using a bullet-point system, but there is so much to get through that prose seems inappropriate, and I'll take matters into consideration one by one.
We should probably start with the penalties.
1. Florent Malouda
The first major shout saw Florent Malouda pulled over on the flank, with the referee awarding a free-kick to Chelsea. Replays appeared to indicate that the foul took place inside the area. I'd suggest that the decision was incorrect, and that it was a penalty. However, I can offer a more detailed explanation than they did on TV.
If you take a look at the incident from a few angles, you can see that the contact which ultimately drags the French winger down takes place right on the line of the area. On the line is in, so it's a penalty, but it's close.
There were several elements of contact before the final act which could have been a foul. If you pause the video as Malouda turns inside, there is contact outside the area. The contact stops, then starts again on the line. However, the Law book states. 'If a defender starts holding an attacker outside the penalty area and continues holding him inside the penalty area, the referee must award a penalty kick.'
The only defence I could have for the ref is that he thinks it takes place outside and Malouda falls in, but he's wrong. It's a penalty. Poor decision.
2. Didier Drogba
This is a slow-motion penalty. What I mean by that is that watching it in real-time I didn't think it was a foul, but when you see the replays, you realise that there is a case.
To be fair, I wouldn't blame the referee for not giving a spot-kick here, for three main reasons. One is that although there is a shirt pull, it is minimal, and does not affect Drogba's momentum. I understand that technically it constitutes a foul, but it was very quick and if we want to start getting picky on everything we'll be here all day.
There is a minor nudge which again can be seen more on slo-mo, and the third tangible would be that it's Didier Drogba. I know officials shouldn't have pre-conceived ideas, but the guy goes down so easily it's hard to judge anything he does now.
Possibly a technical penalty, but you must judge these things in practise. The ref gets one go, and at first look I would have said no. I still might. No complaints about this one.
3. Gerard Pique
This is the most blatant. The ball is struck across the former Manchester United defender and whacks him on the hand. The guy even said as much in an interview after the game.
If you are stood with your arms outstretched like this and the ball hits it - and it wasn't like it was from two yards away - then you have to give a spot-kick. Unlike the previous Drogba example, I shouted 'penalty' from my sofa straight away, and for me this was the worst example of the missed penalty decisions.
4. Samuel Eto'o
Not a penalty in a million years. It hits him incredibly high up on the arm, and he is turning back and using his arm to protect his face. This was the one that sent them over the edge, but to me it was the accumulation of other frustrations that did so. Michael Ballack was lucky to escape with a booking for his harassment of the official.
Onto other matters...
- Dani Alves' booking
Forgotten about in the context of a hectic game, but one of the best attacking full-backs in Europe will miss the final for picking up a second booking, and it was really, really harsh.
He basically jumped into Ashley Cole, and although it was a foul, there was no dangerous play or malice in the jump. Cole turned away from the challenge, making things look far worse. There were similar or worse challenges in the game which did not earn a caution. A real shame that a really good player will miss out on a huge game.
- Eric Abidal's sending off
Really, really harsh from where I'm standing. There may be a tiny piece of contact as Anelka runs across Abidal, but the main reason the Chelsea forward falls down is because his own legs get entangled.
I feel a little for the official because it is another of those decisions where, like with Darren Fletcher, a foul means a red card. However, in these situations the key is to be certain about giving a decision of such magnitude. I fail to see how he can be certain, since Abidal doesn't even break his stride to deliberately fell Anelka. If Anelka clips him having simply run into him that's not a foul. If Anelka falls over his own feet, it's not a foul.
I don't think Anelka dived at all, and there may have been contact between the two men, but for me it was purely accidental, and another player misses the final harshly.
Just a couple of other factors to comment on quickly...
- Platini's agenda against another all-English final
Nonsense as far as I am concerned. This is only being mentioned because Barcelona got a result. If Iniesta spoons the ball over the bar and Chelsea win 1-0 then no-one even mentions that UEFA have it in for the Prem teams and we wander off to Rome thinking thoughts of Moscow's awesome final last year. The ref had a bad game, but not because he was being leaned on. If he is helping Barca out, then he doesn't send off a defender with 25 minutes to go.
- The referee's nationality
There were complaints by a few pundits about the fact that the referee was from Norway, and that we wouldn't take charge of games of this magnitude often enough. I think that is a very sound, logical statement on the surface, but not when you start digging.
Let's not forget that until being forced to retire, one of the best refs in Europe was Lubos Michel of Slovakia. How big is the Slovakian league? Not as good as even the Norwegian one, I wouldn't think.
I thought the referee in the game last week at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Arsenal was very good. His nationality? Danish. And then there was Jamie Redknapp's assertion that a ref from one of the best leagues in Europe should have taken charge. He then mentioned an Italian ref as an example. Like Roberto Rosetti who made the big Fletcher howler, Jamie?
I have said before that I think that the best referees from across Europe (indeed, the world) should ply their trade in the best leagues, but to dismiss last night's official as rubbish because he is from Norway is plain ignorance. He just had a bad night.
- Henry's penalty claim last week
I'm not crazy about attacking Chelsea's moans with the counter-claim that Henry should have a penalty in the Nou Camp, but I'd use it to make mention of the fact that it seems odd to me that both legs are officiated by different referees. Why doesn't the same man who took charge of the first leg not do the second as well? After all, it is essentially one game split over two venues. I think this would greatly help the cause all round.
- Drogba's post match antics
I thought it was a disgrace. I thought it was shocking. I thought it was deplorable.
But mostly, I thought it was very, very funny.
Rob McNichol
