Martin Atkinson and his team were faced with more than the average share of very tricky decisions in Sunday's feisty game between Newcastle and Liverpool. The match was always going to be spiky, with Andy Carroll returning to St James's Park and both teams anxious to,prove they merit their place at the top table of English football.
These were the trickiest of the calls.
* Newcastle defender handles on the line. Yes he handled it but it took all the technology could throw at the incident, including an electronic magnifying glass, to show the defender slightly raising his arm to block the ball as it headed into the net. Unfortunately both officials were probably unsighted. Atkinson was peering through a thicket of players while the assistant's view was probably obscured by the post. Liverpool are right to be aggrieved about this one, and the defender would have been sent off as well.
* Carroll dives. Relatively easy to spot, but Atkinson was just 10 metres away as Carroll broke through and, like Danny Murphy a week earlier, turned down a good chance to score, instead preferring a clumsy two-footed dive that was, frankly, embarrassing.
* Newcastle goal number one. Was Cisse offside? Tough and go and replays don't prove it one way or another so I'd give Cisse the benefit of the doubt.
* Newcastle goal number two. Clearly offside in my view but I'm taking advice on whether I've missed something. Ball played through, defender and attacker both miss it and Cisse in a clear offside position scored.
* Reyna red card. Very silly behaviour by the experienced Spanish keeper. Yes Perch tripped him, but his team were 2-0 down and he needed to get on with it, not pick a fight. Perch clearly acted injured. Atkinson booked him, either for the first foul or for simulation. But the law states that you get a red card for violent conduct for "striking or ATTEMPTING to strike" another player.
No comments:
Post a Comment