Let me preface this comment by saying that Chelsea deserved to lose the Carling Cup. They approached the game with a nonchalant arrogance bred of too many fat cheques, fast cars and 1,000-pound bottles of Cristal. They lost to an average Tottenham team, but good on Spurs, they had the hunger for it and could become - once again - a top English team.
No, my comment is reserved for Mark Halsey, who cast a shadow over a fine two-hour performance with a most bizarre decision at the end of the match. With a minimum of three minutes time to be added on, Halsey booked two Spurs players in the final couple of minutes for time-wasting. However, on 92 minutes and 35 seconds, Halsey blew for full time.
As he blew, Kalou had burst into the Spurs area and had an excellent chance of scoring. In the end, his shot hit the post. But what was Halsey doing, A - Blowing half a minute early and B - Blowing for full time with the ball in the area. It's a big no-no unless you absolutely have to. And Halsey didn't need to.
Imagine the riot if Kalou had scored as Halsey blew, with half a minute still to play. I can only think that Halsey had a quick look at his watch and mis-read it. But it was a great shame as he had a superb match otherwise.
The Bridge handball for Spurs' first goal was given by assistant Martin Yerby. Halsey was wrong-sided and Yerby must have been completely sure he saw a deliberate handball from the Chelsea left back that television replays could not confirm. Yerby knows only too well that the referee only wants such a dramatic intervention from his assistant if he is absolutely certain an offence has been committed.
3 comments:
Chelsea's downfall was predominantly due to Avram Grant's tactics. Playing Anelka on the left and leaving Joe Cole on the bench is not the way to win a cup final. I also believe that, for a short spell, Drogba switched with Anelka and played a part of the game on the left hand side. What is arguably, the best hold up forward in the world doing in left midfield? Or Anelka for that matter. I have read the press have slated Grant for his poor choice of tactics.
I think calling Tottenham average is a very bold statement. Zakora bossed the centre of midfield for large parts of the game. Woodgate and King were superb in halting whoever Chelsea's lone striker was. Berbatov simply showed why he is a top four club player.
If Kalou would have scored that chance at the end, there would have been a lot of controversy. That would have ruined one of the best refereeing displays I have seen in a long time. Cech got booked after the game didn’t he for arguing about that decision?
It was 93 minutes 35 seconds, he didn't blow up early but quite late, and had plenty of oppurtunity to blow up before the attack.
Strange.
Exeref, I was sure I saw 92 and 35 seconds. Wonder if anyone else saw the time.
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