Untold Ref Review: ManU – Chelsea 3-1

Posted on by WalterBroeckx

Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal

Editorial note: A slightly different ref review as part of test to see if this format can work. So please have a look at give your comments not only on the review but also on the way things are presented.

By Ref reviewer 04

For this very important clash between Manchester United and Chelsea, Mr. Riley picked Phil Dowd. Dowd had a great start of the season so far in our reviews. Did he live up to it?

Min Event Team Player Number Reason C/NC points weight
1 Foul Given Against MU 23 Foul against Chelsea player not given NC 0 0
3 Foul G.A. Chelsea 2 Correct C 1 1
4 Foul GA Chelsea 3 Correct C 1 1
6 Foul.. Chelsea 17 Correct C 1 1
7 Goal Given To MU 12 Offside should have been disallowed NC 0 0
9 Foul MU 12 Correct C 1 1
12 Foul Chelsea 8 Regular NC 0 0
15 Foul MU 3 Correct C 1 1
18 Foul Chelsea 3 Correct C 1 1
19 Foul MU 6 Correct C 1 1
21 Foul MU 10 Regular NC 0 0
22 Foul MU 17 Kick on the heel of Mata not given NC 0 0
22 Foul Chelsea 9 Correct C 1 1
23 Foul MU 14 Handball C 1 1
25 Foul MU 6 Dangerous NC 0 0
26 Offside Given Against MU 14 Correct C 1 1
27 Foul MU 3 Correct C 1 1
28 Foul Chelsea 17 Correct C 1 1
29 Foul MU 12 Correct C 1 1
36 Goal MU 17 Nani came back from an offside position to collect the ball and started his run that lead to the goal. Should have been disallowed NC 0 0
38 Foul MU 12 Clear push against a Chelsea player who was bundled over NC 0 0
43 Foul Chelsea 7 Correct C 1 1
44 Goal MU 10 Correct C 1 3
46 Foul Chelsea 7 Correct C 1 1
Half time 16 18
CORRECT 66,67% 60,00%
YELLOW 0 0
RED 0 0
PENALTY 0 0
GOAL 1 3 33,33
OTHER 0 0
1 3 33,33
OFFSIDE 1 3 33,33
45 Goal Chelsea 9 Correct C 1 3
47 Foul MU 10 Correct C 1 1
48 Foul Chelsea 7 Correct C 1 1
48 Yellow Card Given Against Chelsea 7 Third foul in a few minutes C 1 2
54 Penalty Given Against Chelsea 17 Softest of touches brings Nani down. He tried to play on but as he couldn’t divert the ball in the net the ref gave the penalty. C 1 3
55 Yellow Chelsea 26 Dissent C 1 2
61 Foul MU 12 Correct C 1 1
64 Foul MU 18 Kick from behind on the ankle of the Chelsea player NC 0 0
64 Foul Chelsea 2 Correct C 1 1
72 Penalty Chelsea 2 Ball hit the arm but unintentional and the arm was close to his body C 1 3
72 Offside MU 4 Correct C 1 1
75 Foul Chelsea 10 Correct C 1 1
76 PENALTY Chelsea 3 To the letter of the law the ref was correct to not give a penalty. The ball was out of play at the moment that Cole kicked Chicarito. If the ball would have been in play it should have been a defenite penalty C 1 3
77 Yellow Chelsea 3 A difficult call. It was a dangerous tackle, stretched leg, studs showing at aimed at the shin of the Utd player. It was a goal scoring chance so I think a red card would have been  justified NC 0 2
79 Foul MU 25 Correct C 1 1
79 Foul MU 25 Correct C 1 1
79 Yellow MU 25 Foul C 1 2
84 Foul MU 24 Correct C 1 1
84 Yellow MU 24 Foul C 1 2
89 Foul MU 17 Correct C 1 1
Second half 18 32
CORRECT 94,74% 91,43%
YELLOW 3 4 75,00
RED 0 1 0,00
PENALTY 3 3 100,00
GOAL 1 1 100,00
OTHER 2 2 100,00
9 11 81,82
OFFSIDE 1 1 100,00
Total 34 50
CORRECT 79,07% 76,92%
YELLOW 3 4 75,00
RED 0 1 0,00
PENALTY 3 3 100,00
GOAL 2 4 50,00
OTHER 2 2 100,00
10 14 71,43
OFFSIDE 2 4 50,00
Correct call for Utd 15 46,88%
For Chelsea 17 53,13%
Total 32
Wrong Calls Favour Utd 9 81,82%
Favour Chelsea 2 18,18%
Total 11

What a difference a half make one could say. The first half almost every major decision was wrong. 2 goals from an offside. I can imagine a certain manager being upset after this game.

So the ref was very poor in the first half on the major incidents and on other incidents, but I will come back to this later on. Of course the offside decisions are down to the assistant but like I have said on numerous occasions: we judge them as a team. And for those refs and assistants who work with assistants and refs they will understand what I mean. We win together or we go down together.

In the second half he got most of the important decisions right and according to the letter of the law. Not to the spirit as I would have given a penalty and a red card for the late and dangerous tackle from Cole on Chicarito. But Dowd obviously, like I said before this season, has taken the laws of the game at hand and studied them. When the ball is out of play you cannot give a penalty. You can give red cards but not a penalty. But who could have blamed him for putting the ball on the spot. Because if the ref would say: “I thought the ball was still in play” he can give the deserved penalty.

But now for something completely different as the Monty Python crew would say. Take a look at the wrong calls. And you will read more about wrong calls later today or this week. But in the first half Utd had 8 wrong call in their favour. And Chelsea? Zero wrong calls in their favour. Nothing. Nothing at all. And then in the second half, with United seemingly out or reach the wrong calls suddenly are almost gone (only 3 wrong calls) and are more evened out.

So Dowd saved his day in the second half. But Chelsea really can feel robbed by the ref and one assistant.

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16 Replies to “Untold Ref Review: ManU – Chelsea 3-1”

  1. The new Chelsea manager will have to learn the hard way. You do not question those in power of the EPL without serious ramifications.

    Villas-Boas said: “I’m very unhappy with a poor display from the referees that had a decisive role in the result.

    “I don’t take it very lightly. You expect the linesman to do his job.”

    The former Porto manager, 33, added: “I already went further ahead with the situation by speaking to the correct people.

    “We all feel very, very down when the referee [Phil Dowd] had such an impact on the result.”

    Welcome to the EPL Mr AVB.

    Welcome back Mr Dowd.

  2. Should the player have had a red card for the foul on nani in the incident for which the ref gave the penalty? It was a small touch that brought him down, but it was a penalty and it did look to me like a clear goalscoring position.

    Interesting that both of Utd’s first 2 goals should have been disallowed. That’s the real issue in this game. They didn’t play better than chelsea, and they got these goals in their favour. Same old thing.

  3. Davi,
    there were other defenders close to the incident who could have tried to intercept if Nani would have stayed on his feet. In fact I think there were at least 2 other defenders there. The foul was not a nasty one, more a little bit mistimed attempt to go for the ball.

    I wonder if the ref would have given it in the other penalty box… would he?

  5. I think that Phil Dowd was probably the most relieved person at Old Trafford at Torres’ open goal miss. It would’ve been interesting to his performance would’ve changed.

  6. Welcome mates. Now lets see if Wenger happens to be the old complainer. Danglash had his share last sunday, sky and FA did nothing. Now its AVB. If it was Wenger that made those comments, the FA would be investigating and the paper will be selling. The FA knows they are not better than the FIFA they hate so much. Same corrupt game.

  8. Surprise ManU getting offside goals, so nothing really has changed from last year.
    Walter the new look of review looks good (improving again).
    Oh and off topic when I went to work today (I work in staff restaurant) and saw our menu first thought was “Walter” yes first line said “Bratwurst…” 😉

  9. Walter- the presentation is an improvement. It is more specific and easier to read and compare. Thanks. As for this game……
    when do persistent one-sided calls become match fixing? When it goes on week after week- when does it become season fixing? And what do you call it when it goes on year after year? ‘A bloody disgrace’ to say the least!

  10. @ Walter. This is a good review and correctly identifies the offside goals given in MU’s favour. Dowd and his semi blind linesmen once again showed that they should not be allowed on the pitch. But, would they have given the same two goals for Chealsea?

    Regarding the new format – it does not identify the player involved in each incident, so in that case I would prefer the previous format. Sorry.

  12. bjtgooner,
    Thanks for the remark. I had the same thought.
    But if all goes well we should be able to replace the number with the name of the player.

  13. About the new format:

    – I like to know which player (name) committed the foul and on who.

    – For Reason I would like to read the reason in one or two words, e.g. “push” or “dangerous tackle”, instead of “correct”; whether it’s correct is clear from the C/NC column.

    – Instead of “Foul given against”, just “Foul” would suffice. The same for “Offside given against”.

    – For awarded goals and penalties, just like that is okay, but for denied goals and penalties, you could write “Denied goals” and “Denied penalties” instead – regardless whether the decision was correct or incorrect, followed by a comment (reason).

  14. About the ref performance:

    It’s the usual ManU fare, particulary at Old Trafford. They get a helping hand when they have it difficult, or in this case, even before it gets difficult. I imagine Riley would give Dowd a 100% score for this match.

  15. Kentetsu, thanks for the remarks.
    I entered the words “given against” at the start to make it clear how it should be understood. We might even use pictures in the future 😉

    A short word about the kind of foul will certainly be given with a non correct call. Must look at the correct calls to be honest if we can add that.

    In the future the name of the player who committed the foul should be mentioned. The name of the fouled player is still being researched if we can add it automatically.

    Problem could also be the width of the table so we have to skip some data to keep it on the page

    But thanks for the remarks we will keep it in mind

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