Luka Modric's pass to Gareth Bale was a work of art: a perfectly balanced ball that split the Arsenal defence down the middle, flighted perfectly to allow Gareth Bale to use his speed to muscle through and take on the Gunners' goalkeeper. Bale, 15 yards from goal with Szczesny to beat, flicked the ball past him and went to ground as the goalie dived for the ball. Mike Dean blows for a penalty.
The television replays appeared to show that Szczesny made little, if any, contact with Bale, who pulled the old trick of dragging a foot along the ground to try to make contact and give the impression of being treated. What's more Dean was busting a gut to keep up with play. The break from Tottenham's penalty area had been staggeringly quick and the ref was sprinting and probably about 20 yards away from the incident.
It's impossible to tell if his assistant, who had a good view of Bale going to ground, helped Dean with his decision. It's possible.
What is clear is that Bale overhit the ball as he passed the goalkeeper and would have struggled to keep it under control.
So does this explain Dean's decision not to sanction Szczesny at all. No red or even yellow card? Although the law covering this type of incident is likely to change from next season, at the moment, Denial of an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity, or DOGSO, is penalised by a red card.
After Dean gave the penalty, he went across to his assistant and the two spoke. Dean then ran back to the action tapping his head. What on earth was he saying? Surely not that Szczesny's head made contact with Bale? I suspect the poor goalkeeper would be in hospital with concussion if that's what he meant.I really don't know what he meant, but it was surprising that he didn't even show a yellow.
However, we mustn't forget that Bale tricked Dean. He wasn't tripped, didn't need to go to ground. Basically, he cheated.
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