Chelsea 2-2 Manchester United: Dodgy Goal?
Sir Alex Ferguson has come out on the attack after United’s penalty defeat to us in yesterday’s Community Shield.
Having watched as United conceded a second goal just seconds after Ballack had floored Patrice Evra, Fergie raged “If the referee sees it properly, it’s a red card. He’s elbowed him clearly. The referee’s in line and had a clear view so Ballack’s lucky. But he’s made a rod for his own back. He’d stopped the game twice already: when Nani was down and on a second occasion when Ballack went down. We’ve seen that before with him. I spoke to the referee (about that previous incident) and he said it was serious and Ballack needed treatment, though he was up straight away. The least he should have done is stop the game. When players are acting to get the game stopped, when they lose possession and lie down … it’s an area I’m concerned about. We’ve got to find a solution to that. You see it all the time when teams attack and then the other side go on a counter, so a player lies down in the penalty box to try and get the game stopped. It’s not right. The referee didn’t get it right today. You have to be consistent and he blew twice but not the third time.”
From the ref’s perspective, you’d have to say he could argue that because United had come away with the ball before Carrick lost possession, he was playing the advantage – although from that position it’s hard to see what the advantage would’ve been exactly and to be fair to United, Fergie has a point that Foy had indeed stopped play for a much more feeble challenge from Evra on Ballack, so his consistency is questionable.
Michael Ballack, ignoring the point about him going to ground too easily just minutes before, holds his hands up to the foul, saying “I have to be happy he didn’t blow but I think I blocked him a little bit and if the referee gives a foul it’s okay as well. He decided and he didn’t give the foul, but it was a bit unlucky after that (because) they conceded the goal. I kept on playing but then I didn’t have the ball so I couldn’t see how injured he is. It’s for the referee to decide, it’s not our choice and that’s it.”
I’m not even going to dispute the ref got it wrong, it was a blatant foul on Evra – not helped by the fact Ballack had already conned a free kick for a nothing challenge – but what about what happened after? Were we right to carry on and score the goal? Our players certainly looked a bit iffy about celebrating but had they actually done anything wrong?
Taking the rules as they stand, the ref had played the advantage because United were in possession. We’d won the ball fair and square, there was no whistle, so we played on. Nothing wrong there unless you want to question bad sportsmanship. There was a player down, he’d taken a Ballack elbow and whilst his jump up once United conceded didn’t look like he’d sustained a head injury, Chris Foy wouldn’t have known that when he went down – but then neither would we.
It’s not an easy one because whilst the rules seem clear enough – you play to the whistle – half the time players do and half the time they don’t. Would United have played on if the situation had been reversed? Probably.
I guess the bottom line is it just doesn’t feel all that comfortable scoring under those circumstances. But when it comes down to it, the ref got it wrong, we took advantage of his mistake and on this occasion I’m glad it went to penalties.
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Even as a United fan I must say that I don’t believe that Chelsea did anything wrong at all. I think that every team would have done the same, and it’s United fault that they didn’t play untill the wistle blew.
The ref however should feel ashamed of himself for his lack of consistency. How on earth he managed to ignore the faul whilst looking straight at it is beyond me! Even if he did give United the advantage he is able to give the free kick when it turns out that United didn’t get the advantage after all.
NorwegianDevil – having just watched it again, Foy was even closer to it than I realised yesterday. He was obviously too overwhelmed by the occasion to actually read the game.
i cant blame the ref because he did not see it and if he does he might feel it is part of the corney way players used to play there game.
I don’t feel bad about any of this. United get the fewest PK’s called on them in the league and they get the most fouls called their way, too. It’s about time things evened out.
The ref should’ve blown the whistle, but I’m glad he didn’t. We win.
Two points to consider:
1 – As Fergie even notes, they stopped it when Nani went down and Chelsea were going on the attack, then when Ballack went down when Man U were going on the attack. Both Nani and Ballack went down in the same area as the play; Evra went down on the opposite side of the field. Granted, Nani’s injury was legit while Ballack and Evra’s weren’t, but that is likely why the official stopped play.
2 – It was established pretty early on that the teams weren’t going to stop play every time someone went down. Particularly with Drogba, although with his reputation that is to be expected. Malouda probably should have kicked the ball out when Nani went down, although with his reputation you could make the same case for playing on. But again, Evra was on the far side of the field, and didn’t seem to be acting hurt so much as disputing the no-call.
This is going to be a touchy subject with Chelsea and Man United for a very long time. Let’s face it, both sides have (or had) plenty of players who embellish their injuries — Drogba, Ballack, Ronaldo, Vidic, etc. Look back at the 2008 Champions League Final, someone went down and Chelsea kicked the ball out on the touch line for a Man U throw; Man U did the same thing which led to the altercation which saw Drogba get thrown out. The players on both sides are going to be touchy about this subject for a while, especially now.
Very fair and balanced piece.
If you pay close attention to the replays, you’ll note Ballack’s arm hit Evra’s chest, not his face. It’s obvious something was going on between the two all game, and we all know that a bit of acting is used for strategic penalties. I also think that without that penalty, Rooney would have not have scored. This call (or lack of a call) fired him up a notch or two, that I think lit a fire under his hindquarters. With that said, I’m glad he did score. I think this game showed that Rooney has captain quality. I’m also glad Chelsea had the opportunity to win on PK’s. Overall, fantastic game . . . very fun to watch!
good article!
“I’m glad it went to penalties” – beautifully summed up.
was arguing all day with my mate (a chelsea supporter) about the incident. i agree with u that united, probably, would have taken advantage of the ref s mistake as well. but i would definitely have felt ashamed then