Ref Review: Chelsea man lucky not to see red; Saints wronged
Chelsea were fortunate not to lose a man at Brighton, while Southampton can feel relieved justice was done in their home victory over Arsenal, according to this week’s Ref Review.
Refereeing decisions are regularly the source of debate among fans, pundits, players and managers so this season TEAMtalk’s ‘Ref Review’ panel will be passing judgement on every red card (or avoidance of one), every penalty (or avoidance of one) and any other major incident in each Premier League match.
We may be in the day and age of goalline technology, while VAR made its appearance at the World Cup, but football remains littered with controversies.
We’ll also decide on a weekly basis which side can consider themselves lucky and which was the easiest decision for a match official to make.
Gabriel Jesus disallowed goal v Everton
If you had £5 for every time Gabriel Jesus has been offside since joining Manchester City, you could probably afford to go part-time at work. It happened again on Saturday when Riyad Mahrez jinked off his wing, effortlessly beat two men before sliding in the Brazilian, who went too soon. He swooshed a finish past the hapless Jordan Pickford but the linesman has his flag up.
Verdict: Correct decision
Fabian Delph yellow card v Everton
Manchester City and England man Delph looked very lucky not to see red after he left his foot in on Everton forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin in challenge after play had been stopped. It was clearly dangerous as he lunged in studs up after the whistle had gone. It led to the pair squaring up on the pitch as Everton’s England under-21 star remonstrated with his opponent. Craig Pawson was straight over and saw fit to book the pair of them, but Delph really should have walked for that.
Verdict: Incorrect decision
Cardiff City second goal v Watford
There was controversy at Vicarage Road as Sol Bamba appeared well offside in the area, but wasn’t flagged. He proceeded to miss an absolute sitter, but after a goalmouth scramble the ball found its way to substitute Bobby Reid, who slotted home. Watford were furious the goal was allowed to stand, and rightly so as Bamba was well off.
Verdict: Incorrect decision
Jamaal Lascelles yellow card v Huddersfield Town
The Terriers are struggling after losing another crucial clash against a relegation rival. However many Huddersfield supporters felt the Magpies should have been reduced to 10 men in the first half after Laurent Depoitre nicked the ball past Toon captain Lascelles down the touchline. Lascelles then completely missed the ball, but wiped out Depoitre with a bizarre ‘scissor’ challenge.
Ref Anthony Taylor had a good view of it and deemed it worthy of a caution. It was wild and perhaps looked a lot worse than it was as Depoitre ended up careering into the advertising hoardings but on reflection a straight red would have been too harsh.
Verdict: Correct decision
Ayoze Perez disallowed goal v Huddersfield Town
Magpies fans were furious after a couple of huge decisions went against them last against Wolves and they were aggrieved once again on Saturday after Perez had what looked like a perfectly good goal chalked off for offside. He was at least a yard on. Replays would later confirm the referee’s assistant had a mare!
Verdict: Incorrect decision
Marcos Alonso yellow card v Brighton
It was another suspect performance from the Chelsea man generally, and late on he could easily have seen red after dragging down Solly March as the Brighton man looked to race through on goal. It was a silly challenge and he was the last man. But Stuart Atwell only pulled out a yellow, much to the annoyance of Chris Hughton.
Verdict: Incorrect decision
Shame Long disallowed goal v Arsenal
A genuinely frantic finale at St Mary’s and with the scores locked at 2-2 the Saints thought they had regained the lead after Shane Long forced the ball over the line. However the assistant referee had his flag up to curtail the home team’s celebrations after spotting, correctly, that Long was just offside from Maya Yoshida’s header.
Verdict: Correct decision
Team mostly likely to feel brassed off award
Brighton
Even though there wasn’t long to go it would have been interesting to see if Chelsea could have held on with 10 men if Alonso had been dismissed for bringing down March. Chris Hughton argued afterwards that Alonso should have been booked earlier in the game and the way they finished the game Brighton will see that as an opportunity lost.
Stonewall decision of the week
Lascelles yellow card
The Toon skipper can have few complaints about the caution he received for his clumsy, and wholly unnecessary, lunge on Laurent Depoitre. One of the easier decisions Anthony Taylor will have to make this season.