Football Season 2012/2013

[Nerph-]

He did make some exceptional saves, stopping United pulling it back indeed.

[koodledrum]

Yeah Vidic had to think he'd scored with a header late in the game plus the old stop with the balls on the line very early in the game as well - fair play to Lopez he had a great night between the posts.

[Deleted]

The red card was 50/50, he could have given yellow, no questions asked, but the red one wasn't off the table either.

Other than that, the referee just did fuck all... Starting with United's goal, prior to which RvP seemed offside(I should watch another replay of that, when there is better angle available), followed by ignoring that Madrid's goalkeeper punched Vidic, and culminating with sparing each team a penalty.

It's a shame that such games are ruined by bad decisions. I was really expecting to watch a great match between two of the top teams in the world, not a clusterfuck of bad referee decisions.

[koodledrum]

Yeah I think Roy Keane hit the nail right on the head last night with what he said, whenever he was sent off he always asked himself if he gave the ref the opportunity to send him packing and if he did, he wasn't annoyed with the ref over it - Nani might not have seen the player coming (he was watching the ball 90% of the way) but his foot was high & that's dangerous. 99% of the time you'll see a yellow there because a ref will look at the CONTEXT and use his discretion, but that's not something that has to happen and last night the decision was a clear case of taking the incident as that singular moment in time as opposed to the immediate buildup to the incident and punishing that.

Overall the ref was poor, seemed too card happy - the reason I watch games like that is to see the game, not have the ref stop it for arbitrary crap & getting card happy which is what happened last night, it had the makings of a quality game which was ruined by a referee who forget that the best refs are the ones you never remember after the final whistle.

[Nerph-]

Not a surprise that UEFA are backing the ref's red decision, a shame, but not a surprise. There are like 7 different articles on my iPhones eurosports app about it, will be an interesting read when I get bored :P

[Tommy T]

Last night was justice.

Man United get SO many decisions for them, it's nice to see them get a rough of the green. Glad they're out. How does it feel to be robbed?

[Norganon]

That and the fact it completely ruined the tempo of the game, it seemed to knock United completely off balance

You cannot ignore the rules just because it would ruin a game, he committed a serious foul.

Anyway, what's done is done. Today Madrid celebrates it's 111th birthday!

[Nerph-]

Last night was justice.

Man United get SO many decisions for them, it's nice to see them get a rough of the green. Glad they're out. How does it feel to be robbed?

Yeah, I forgot, we bribe the ref's and have Fergie time.

Anyway, if you think the red card was silly, check what this United fan did after it happened:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-21687292

Yes, that's right, he called 999. What a plonker.

[Northern Goblin]

You cannot ignore the rules just because it would ruin a game, he committed a serious foul.

So why were Arbeloa and Lopez not sent off? Sure you can't ignore the rules, but the referee in this instance was wrong in the first place. It wasn't a head on lunge, and Arbeloa even stated afterwards he first thought the referee was going to book him, because he could have been seen to "take a free shot at Nani."


And Frank, look to your own club before you say others get all the decisions.

[Lillpapps]

Last night was justice.

Man United get SO many decisions for them, it's nice to see them get a rough of the green. Glad they're out. How does it feel to be robbed?

Please back that up with facts.
Its like saying that United can only win with Howard Webb when Webb gives more yellow / red cards to United than any other team in the league. Most penalties against Man Utd and fewest for Man Utd. Less Injury time for United than other teams.
Give me facts.

[Xanjori]

As a Tottenham fan, Ill refrain from talking about ref's decisions going Utds way at Old Trafford...

[Norganon]

So why were Arbeloa and Lopez not sent off? Sure you can't ignore the rules, but the referee in this instance was wrong in the first place. It wasn't a head on lunge, and Arbeloa even stated afterwards he first thought the referee was going to book him, because he could have been seen to "take a free shot at Nani."

I don't know why they weren't sent off, why didn't Madrid get a penalty for the handball from Rafael? We can keep on arguing about this forever. You say it wasn't a head on lunge, but surely a player such as Nani can't expect to not be challenged to the ball by a Madrid player? He gambled, he lost. You wouldn't even want to know the amount of red cards Madrid have gotten in a Clasico and subsequently lost.

I'm not a frequent United watcher because I don't like the EPL, but I hear a lot about Fergie time, the goal from Chicharito against Chelsea and other things. I have a lot of respect for the club, SAF and Rooney, but you can't deny they have gotten very lucky with referees. Now they got a red card, and they scream bloody murder.

Anyway, while on the subject of United, could someone explain to me how United thrashed Arsenal 8-2? I mean, Arsenal isn't that bad, right?

[Valeron]

I've seen a lot worse decisions than the red card yesterday.

Also, Man Utd was still 1-0 up (on an offside goal, surprised it hasn't been mentioned more) at the time. There was no reason to fall apart for 20 minutes or so. The last 10 minutes Man Utd took it to Madrid, only a good couple of saves stopped them from scoring. I mean to put this in perspective, Chelsea was down 2-0 in Barcelona and down a man for 60 minutes, and they came back to tie the game. So you had a "bad" decision go against you, there is still a game to play. Man Utd fell apart mentally.

[Jackmoves]

I've seen worse red cards then that tbh. It was pretty tough, but hardly something that you should be wildly protesting against. If you karate kick someone in the chest you will get a card, doesn't matter if it's intentional or not, in this case it could go either way, yellow or red, neither is exactly wrong imo.

You could just as well blame it on bad situational awerness by Nani. Is that a good enough excuse? I don't know but it's Refs call to make and I don't think he commited a grave error in showing him the red.


Quite similiar to Zlatans Red card a while back

[draykorinee]

Was a bad decision, united have had as much luck as any team with decisions though, I dont think they get any preference I remember Newcastle last season with a terrible decision to award a penalty as well as the recent Tottenham game as well. They do tend to even themselves out I think, United get a lot of bad press for ref bias, its purely bullshit and fantasy as well as a bit of jealousy.
I think this will pretty much be the nail in the coffin for the title, with the fewer games being played I think its just that little edge to add to the massive 12 points.

[Northern Goblin]

As a Tottenham fan, Ill refrain from talking about ref's decisions going Utds way at Old Trafford...

Spurs get crap decisions against everyone. Remember the 2-1 loss to Chelsea where the ball never crossed the line, and the second goal was offside?

Also Rafael was as much a penalty as the one not given on the other end when Welbeck struck against Ramos' arm. Then Welbeck was brought down in the penalty area with no contact from the defender on the ball. Those decisions were all missed.

Biggest difference between Nani and Ibrahimovic was that Ibra went head on into the keeper. No one was infront of Nani when he lunged.

---------- Post added 2013-03-06 at 07:13 PM ----------

I'm not a frequent United watcher because I don't like the EPL, but I hear a lot about Fergie time, the goal from Chicharito against Chelsea and other things. I have a lot of respect for the club, SAF and Rooney, but you can't deny they have gotten very lucky with referees. Now they got a red card, and they scream bloody murder.

Selective memory, the ABU's love to remember the incidents that went for United, but not the ones that went against.

Before the start of this season in the history of the Premier League United had scored less penalties than Liverpool/Arsenal and Chelsea and conceded more. And an independent review of last season found that had games been adjusted for referee errors, United would have been 4 points ahead of City come the final day of the league.

Swings and roundabouts, just people see the bits they want to see.

Anyway, while on the subject of United, could someone explain to me how United thrashed Arsenal 8-2? I mean, Arsenal isn't that bad, right?

Arsenal are a far cry from the last team to win Silverware for the club, nowhere near as good.

[Norganon]

Selective memory, the ABU's love to remember the incidents that went for United, but not the ones that went against.

Before the start of this season in the history of the Premier League United had scored less penalties than Liverpool/Arsenal and Chelsea and conceded more. And an independent review of last season found that had games been adjusted for referee errors, United would have been 4 points ahead of City come the final day of the league.

Swings and roundabouts, just people see the bits they want to see.

Well like I said, I don't watch them, I don't judge them. As long as they beat City I'll be happy.

On the subject of referees, Victor Valdes just got suspended 4 games for his red card in the Clasico. Funny how Sergio Ramos got 5 games for doing the same thing. Oh RFEF, you have no idea what you're doing.

[Jackmoves]

Biggest difference between Nani and Ibrahimovic was that Ibra went head on into the keeper. No one was infront of Nani when he lunged.

Idd, but it's still similiar, both are focused on the ball, missing the incoming collision. It's reckless play and could end badly, but yes it's certainly debatable if Nani should have been sent off but it's not such a grave mistake by the ref as some think imo.

They might have gotten instructions to be harsher on that kind of play from the top, I don't know.

[Northern Goblin]

The law is for head on collisions, whether it catches the player in the front, back or side. Which is why the referee's decision was so daft, the only thing infront of Nani was thin air when he committed. That's why it's a booking, because he's left a leg out which someone could hurt themselves on if they run into it.

The above incidents I listed were more head on than this, and you wouldn't give a red card for either of those. Imagine if Lopez was red carded for punching Vidic, it's technically violent conduct if you look at the FIFA rules, but you hope no referee in the world is stupid enough to try and interpret it that way.


Also someone reminded me of this, World cup 98, David Batty goes for an overhead kick as Ben Younes tries to head it. The result was this:



And he wasn't even booked for it, why? Because accidents happen.

[koodledrum]

Celtic out after a 2-0 loss to Juve in Turin - respectable job getting to that stage in the Champions League especially given the lack of quality games at home to keep them sharp for big nights!