By Usama & Walter
An act of violent conduct that brought danger of a serious injury to a player. There is only one punishment for this: a red card.
- NORWICH CITY vs. ARSENAL
- COMPETITION: English Premier League
- MATCH NO. 14
- DATE: 29th November 2015
- VENUE: Carrow Road (Norwich, England)
MATCH OFFICIALS:
| REFEREE: Jon Moss | |
| 1st LINESMAN: Adrian Holmes | |
| 2nd LINESMAN: Simon Long | |
| 4th OFFICIAL: Robert Madley |
First Half
Fouls, Advantages, Cards, and Penalties
| Time | Foul by | Foul For | Description & Decision | Points | |
| 06:37 | Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal) | Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) | When the throw-in was taken inside the Norwich half, Flamini held and pulled Hoolahan while heading. This should have been a foul for Norwich but no foul was given.
NO FOUL FOR NORWICH. |
-1 (FOUL) | |
| 10:30 | Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) | Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) | Hoolahan tripped and blocked Sanchez inside the Arsenal’s half.
CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (FOUL) | |
| 11:35 | Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) | Jonathan Howson (Norwich) | Sanchez charged strongly in to Howson from the side inside the Norwich’ half.
CORRECT FOUL FOR NORWICH. |
1 (FOUL) | |
| 13:32 | Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) | Martin Olsson (Norwich) | Ramsey tripped Olsson inside the Arsenal’s half.
CORRECT FOUL FOR NORWICH. |
1 (FOUL) | |
| 23:35 | Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) | Gary O’Neil (Norwich) | Ozil slightly tripped and blocked O’Neil after he turned quickly inside the Norwich’s half.
CORRECT FOUL FOR NORWICH. |
1 (FOUL) | |
| 24:27 | Gary O’Neil (Norwich) | Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) | Ozil was controlling the ball inside the Norwich’s half when O’Neil tripped him from behind. This should have been a foul for Arsenal but no foul was given.
NO FOUL FOR ARSENAL. |
-1 (FOUL) | |
| 26:14 | Gary O’Neil (Norwich) | Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) | Sanchez was moving forward with the ball when O’Neil slightly pulled him from back, but Sanchez kept moving forward.
CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (ADVANTAGE)
|
|
| 26:20 | Gary O’Neil (Norwich) | Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) | Sanchez received the pass inside the Norwich’s half when O’Neil came from behind and grabbed him and tried to pull him back. The referee correctly called a foul.
But this was O’Neil’s 3rd non-cautionable foul in less than two minutes. This was an act of persistent fouling from O’Neil and should have been yellow card but was not.
LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 127 Persistent Infringement Referees should be alert at all times to players who persistently infringe the Laws. In particular, they must be aware that, even if a player commits a number of different offences, he must still be cautioned for persistently infringing the Laws.
There is no specific number of infringements which constitutes “persistence” or the presence of a pattern – this is entirely a matter of judgement and must be determined in the context of effective game management.
CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL. NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST O’NEIL. |
1 (FOUL)
-2 (YELLOW CARD) |
|
| 26:53 | Lewis Grabban (Norwich) | Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal) | Just as Flamini passed the ball inside the Norwich’s half Grabban pulled him from behind, but kept moving forward.
CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (ADVANTAGE)
|
|
| 26:58 | Graeme Dorrans (Norwich) | Santi Cazorla (Arsenal)
|
Cazorla played a through pass forward inside the Norwich’s penalty area when Dorrans pushed Cazorla away. Meanwhile Arsenal kept attacking.
CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (ADVANTAGE)
|
|
| 35:46 | Gary O’Neil (Norwich) | Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) | O’Neil pulled down and tripped Ozil while chasing the bouncing ball inside the Norwich half. This should have been a foul for Arsenal but no foul was given.
But this was O’Neil’s 4th non-cautionable foul in ten minutes. This was an act of persistent fouling from O’Neil and the referee had a second chance to given a yellow card against him but was not given.
LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 127 Persistent Infringement Referees should be alert at all times to players who persistently infringe the Laws. In particular, they must be aware that, even if a player commits a number of different offences, he must still be cautioned for persistently infringing the Laws.
There is no specific number of infringements which constitutes “persistence” or the presence of a pattern – this is entirely a matter of judgement and must be determined in the context of effective game management.
NO FOUL FOR ARSENAL. NO YELLOW CARD FOR THE SECOND TIME AGAINST O’NEIL. |
-1 (FOUL)
-2 (YELLOW CARD) |
|
| 38:25 | Martin Olsson (Norwich) | Santi Cazorla (Arsenal) | Olsson pushed Cazorla from behind.
CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (FOUL) | |
| 39:39 | Ryan Bennett (Norwich) | Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) | Sanchez was trying to keep a long ball in play just on the edge of the manager’s touchline. Ryan Bennett was behind him. Just at the moment the ball went out of play Sanchez and Bennett had just enough momentum to carry them outside of play along with the ball. When Bennett pushed Alexis in the back and that resulted in Sanchez being thrown in a cameraman pit.
But this was a dangerous attack on a player without the ball. What made it even worse was that Alexis was jumping up to pull up and thus was in the air and could do nothing against any push. The push resulted in Alexis being catapulted in the camera pit. This can (and probably did) cause serious injury. Whether Alexis was seriously injured or not at the time is of no real importance. Bennet by pushing the unaware Alexis in to the camera pit was bringing a fellow player in to a dangerous situation. Therefore a red card should have been given. Bennet could have done two things when running behind Alexis: embrace Alexis to stop both from running towards the pit or do what he did: pushing him in to a situation that could cause serious injury. NO RED CARD AGAINST BENNETT. |
-3 (RED CARD) | |
| 43:19 | Lewis Grabban (Norwich) | Santi Cazorla (Arsenal)
|
Grabban tripped Cazorla from behind inside the center of the field.
CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (FOUL) | |
| 46:53 | Gary O’Neil (Norwich) | Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) | Grabban pulled down Giroud from behind inside the center of the field. The referee correctly gave a foul.
But this was O’Neil’s 5th non-cautionable foul in 22 minutes. This was an act of persistent fouling from O’Neil and the referee had a third chance to given a yellow card against him but was not given. LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 127 Persistent Infringement Referees should be alert at all times to players who persistently infringe the Laws. In particular, they must be aware that, even if a player commits a number of different offences, he must still be cautioned for persistently infringing the Laws. There is no specific number of infringements which constitutes “persistence” or the presence of a pattern – this is entirely a matter of judgement and must be determined in the context of effective game management.
CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL. NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST O’NEIL FOR THE THRD TIME. |
1 (FOUL)
-2 (YELLOW CARD)
|
|
| Number of Correct Fouls for Arsenal – 5
Number of Correct Fouls for Norwich – 3 Total Number of Correct Fouls – 8 [8 points] |
Number of Incorrect Fouls against Arsenal – 2
Number of Incorrect Fouls against Norwich – 1 Total Number of Incorrect Fouls – 3 [3 points] |
||||
| Number of Correct Advantages for Arsenal – 3
Number of Correct Advantages for Norwich – 0 Total Number of Correct Advantages – 3 [3 points]
|
Number of Incorrect Advantages against Arsenal – 0
Number of Incorrect Advantages against Norwich – 0 Total Number of Incorrect Advantages – 0 |
||||
| Number of Correct Yellow Cards for Arsenal – 0
Number of Correct Yellow Cards for Norwich – 0 Total Number of Correct Yellow Cards – 0 |
Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against Arsenal – 3
Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against Norwich – 0 Total Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards – 3 [6 points]
|
||||
| Number of Correct Red Cards for Arsenal – 0
Number of Correct Red Cards for Norwich – 0 Total Number of Correct Red Cards – 0 |
Number of Incorrect Red Cards against Arsenal – 1
Number of Incorrect Red Cards against Norwich – 0 Total Number of Incorrect Red Cards – 1 [3 points] |
||||
Offsides
| Time | Player Offside | Defending Player | Description & Decision | Points | |
| 24:55 | Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) | Martin Olsson (Norwich) | Giroud was in an offside position.
CORRECT OFFSIDE FOR NORWICH. |
1 (OFFSIDE) | |
| 32:23 | Lewis Grabban (Norwich) | Per Mertesacker (Arsenal) | Grabban was in an offside position.
CORRECT OFFSIDE FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (OFFSIDE) | |
| Number of Correct Offsides for Arsenal – 1
Number of Correct Offsides for Norwich – 1 Total Number of Correct Offsides – 2 [2 points] |
Number of Incorrect Offsides against Arsenal – 0
Number of Incorrect Offsides against Norwich – 0 Total Number of Incorrect Offsides – 0 |
||||
Goals
| Time | Goal Scorer | Description & Decision | Points | |
| 29:13 | Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) | Clean goal scored by Ozil.
CORRECT GOAL FOR ARSENAL. |
3 (GOAL) | |
| 42:20 | Lewis Grabban (Norwich) | Clean goal scored by Grabban.
CORRECT GOAL FOR NORWICH. |
3 (GOAL) | |
| Number of Correct Goals for Arsenal – 1
Number of Correct Goals for Norwich – 1 Total Number of Correct Goals – 2 [6 points] |
Number of Incorrect Goals against Arsenal – 1
Number of Incorrect Goals against Norwich – 0 Total Number of Incorrect Goals – 1 [3 points] |
|||
Goal Kicks, Corners, and Throw-ins
| Time | Type | Last Touch OFF | Description & Decision |
Other
| Time | Type | Description & Decision | Points |
| 16:37 | Head Injury | Sanchez crossed the ball and O’Neil, Wisdom and Gabriel had their heads involved in a collision, with O’Neil suffering a bad knock.
CORRECT DECISION TO STOP PLAY FOR A BAD HEAD COLLISION. |
1 (FOUL) |
| Number of Other Correct Decisions for Arsenal – 0
Number of Other Correct Decisions for Norwich – 1 Total Number of Other Correct Decisions – 1 [1 points] |
|||
First Half Referee Report
| Total Number of Correct Decisions for Arsenal – 5+3+1+1 = 10
Total Number of Correct Decisions for Norwich – 3+1+1+1 = 6 Total Number of Correct Decisions = 10 + 6 = 16
AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED
Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Arsenal – 5+3+1+3 = 12 Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Norwich – 3+1+3+1 = 8 Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) = 12 + 8 = 20
|
| Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Arsenal – 2+3+1 = 6
Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Norwich – 1 Total Number of Incorrect Decisions = 6 + 1 = 7
AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Arsenal – 2+6+3 = 11 Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Norwich – 1 Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) = 11 + 1 = 12
|
|
First Half Correct Decision Percentage = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 16/(16+7) = 69.5% |
|
First Half Correct Decision Percentage (WEIGHTED) = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 20/(20+12) = 62.5%
|
Second Half
Fouls, Advantages, Cards, and Penalties
| Time | Foul by | Foul For | Description & Decision | Points | |
| 45:11 | Santi Cazorla (Arsenal) | Gary O’Neil (Norwich) | The ball was in the air inside the center of the field. O’Neil and Cazorla had their eyes on the ball and were looking to touch it forward. Cazorla’s attempt was late and accidentally kicked O’Neil.
CORRECT FOUL FOR NORWICH. |
1 (FOUL) | |
| 47:44 | Gary O’Neil (Norwich) | Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) | Giroud received the ball inside the Norwich half but it was still in the air, when O’Neil came in to kick the ball but kicked Giroud underneath the foot. The referee correctly gave a foul.
But this was O’Neil’s 6th non-cautionable foul in 24 minutes. This was an act of persistent fouling from O’Neil and the referee had a fourth chance to give a yellow card against him but was not given.
LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 127 Persistent Infringement Referees should be alert at all times to players who persistently infringe the Laws. In particular, they must be aware that, even if a player commits a number of different offences, he must still be cautioned for persistently infringing the Laws.
There is no specific number of infringements which constitutes “persistence” or the presence of a pattern – this is entirely a matter of judgement and must be determined in the context of effective game management
CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL. NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST O’NEIL FOR THE FOURTH TIME |
1 (FOUL)
-2 (YELLOW CARD) |
|
| 53:30 | Santi Cazorla (Arsenal) | Cazorla was trying run past Howson inside the Norwich’s half, when Cazorla went down after deliberately touching Howson on the way. This was clearly an act of simulation.
LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 125 Cautions for Unsporting Behaviour Attempts to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation)
CORRECT FOUL FOR NORWICH. CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST CAZORLA. |
1 (FOUL)
2 (YELLOW CARD) |
||
| 56:08 | Graeme Dorrans (Norwich) | Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) | Dorrans attempted a sliding tackle slightly contacting Ozil but Arsenal kept moving forward.
CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (ADVANTAGE) | |
| 56:14 | Gary O’Neil (Norwich) | Ramsey was running forward carrying out Arsenal’s counter attack inside the Norwich half when O’Neil came from behind and made a sliding tackle from bringing down Ramsey in the process. The referee correctly gave a foul and a yellow card against O’Neil.
But this should have been a second yellow against O’Neil because prior to this incident O’Neil committed 6 non-cautionable fouls for which the referee failed to give him a yellow card. Also he should have been sent off by now.
CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL. CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAISNT O’NEIL. NO RED CARD AGAINST O’NEIL. |
1 (FOUL)
2 (YELLOW CARD) -3 (RED CARD) |
||
| 58:04 | Hector Bellerin (Arsenal) | Graeme Dorrans (Norwich) | The ball was in the air inside the Norwich’s half and both players were looking to win it. But Bellerin’s attempt for a kick was late and he brought down Dorrans in the process. This should have been a foul for Norwich but was not given.
NO FOUL FOR NORWICH. |
-1 (FOUL) | |
| 60:58 | Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal) | Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) | Hoolahan and Flamini were challenging for a 50/50 inside the Arsenal’s half when Flamini stuck out his right foot and cleanly tackled the ball away from Hoolahan, with Hoolahan tripped after the ball was kicked away. This should not have been a foul against Arsenal, but the referee gave a foul.
WRONG FOUL AGAINST ARSENAL. |
-1 (FOUL) | |
| 71:16 | Lewis Grabban (Norwich) | Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal) | Grabban slightly pushed Flamini in the back but Arsenal kept moving forward.
CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (ADVANTAGE) | |
| 71:40 | Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) | Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal) | Hoolahan pushed Flamini in the back but Arsenal kept moving forward.
CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (ADVANTAGE) | |
| 89:50 | Graeme Dorrans (Norwich) | Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal) | Flamini was looking to receive the pass inside the center of the field when Dorrans came from the side and held Flamini by the arm and pushed him. This should have been a foul for Arsenal but was not given.
NO FOUL FOR ARSENAL. |
-1 (FOUL) | |
| 90:43 | Gary O’Neil (Norwich) | Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) | Giroud made a quick turn inside the Norwich’s half when O’Neil pushed him from behind to the ground. This should have been a foul for Arsenal but was not given.
Also this was O’Neil’s 7th non-cautionable foul in the match. This was an act of persistent fouling from O’Neil and the referee had a fifth chance to give a yellow card against him but was not given.
This means that this yellow card should have been O’Neil second yellow card of the match and he sent should have been sent off, which did not happen.
LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 127 Persistent Infringement Referees should be alert at all times to players who persistently infringe the Laws. In particular, they must be aware that, even if a player commits a number of different offences, he must still be cautioned for persistently infringing the Laws.
There is no specific number of infringements which constitutes “persistence” or the presence of a pattern – this is entirely a matter of judgement and must be determined in the context of effective game management
NO FOUL FOR ARSENAL. NO SECOND YELLOW CARD AGAINST O’NEIL. NO RED CARD AGAINST O’NEIL. |
-1 (FOUL)
-2 (YELLOW CARD) -3 (RED CARD) |
|
| 91:50 | ??? (Norwich) | ??? (Arsenal) | Foul not shown during live play or in replay. Assumed correct.
CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (FOUL) | |
| Number of Correct Fouls for Arsenal – 3
Number of Correct Fouls for Norwich – 2 Total Number of Correct Fouls – 5 [5 points]
|
Number of Incorrect Fouls against Arsenal – 3
Number of Incorrect Fouls against Norwich – 1 Total Number of Incorrect Fouls – 4 [4 points] |
||||
| Number of Correct Advantages for Arsenal – 3
Number of Correct Advantages for Norwich – 0 Total Number of Correct Advantages – 3 [3 points]
|
Number of Incorrect Advantages against Arsenal – 0
Number of Incorrect Advantages against Norwich – 0 Total Number of Incorrect Advantages – 0 |
||||
| Number of Correct Yellow Cards for Arsenal – 1
Number of Correct Yellow Cards for Norwich – 1 Total Number of Correct Yellow Cards – 2 [4 points]
|
Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against Arsenal – 2
Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against Norwich – 0 Total Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards – 2 [4 points] |
||||
| Number of Correct Red Cards for Arsenal – 0
Number of Correct Red Cards for Norwich – 0 Total Number of Correct Red Cards – 0
|
Number of Incorrect Red Cards against Arsenal – 2
Number of Incorrect Red Cards against Norwich – 0 Total Number of Incorrect Red Cards – 2 [6 points] |
||||
Offsides
| Time | Player Offside | Defending Player | Description & Decision | Points | |
| 63:01 | Joel Campbell (Arsenal) | Martin Olsson (Norwich) | Campbell was in an offside position.
CORRECT OFFSIDE FOR NORWICH. |
1 (OFFSIDE) | |
| 67:17 | Lewis Grabban (Norwich) | Gabriel Paulista (Arsenal) | Grabban was in an offside position.
CORRECT OFFSIDE FOR ARSENAL. |
1 (OFFSIDE) | |
| Number of Correct Offsides for Arsenal – 1
Number of Correct Offsides for Norwich – 1 Total Number of Correct Offsides – 2 [2 points] |
Number of Incorrect Offsides against Arsenal – 0
Number of Incorrect Offsides against Norwich – 0 Total Number of Incorrect Offsides – 0 |
||||
Second Half Referee Report
| Total Number of Correct Decisions for Arsenal – 3+3+1+1 = 8
Total Number of Correct Decisions for Norwich – 2+1+1 = 4 Total Number of Correct Decisions = 8 + 4 = 12
AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED
Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Arsenal – 3+3+2+1 = 9 Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Norwich – 2+2+1 = 5 Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) = 9 + 5 = 14
|
| Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Arsenal – 3+2+2 = 7
Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Norwich – 1 Total Number of Incorrect Decisions = 7 + 1 = 8
AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED
Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Arsenal – 3+4+6 = 13 Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Norwich – 1 Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) = 13 + 1 = 14
|
|
Second Half Correct Decision Percentage = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 12/(12+8) = 60%
|
|
Second Half Correct Decision Percentage (WEIGHTED) = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 14/(14+14) = 50% |
Full Time (1st Half + 2nd Half) Referee Report
| Total Number of Correct Decisions for Arsenal – 10+8 = 18
Total Number of Correct Decisions for Norwich – 6+4 = 10 Total Number of Correct Decisions = 18 + 10 = 28
AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Arsenal – 12+9 = 21 Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Norwich – 8+5 = 13 Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) = 21 + 13 = 34
|
| Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Arsenal – 6+7 = 13
Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Norwich – 1+1 = 2 Total Number of Incorrect Decisions = 13 + 2 = 15
AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED
Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Arsenal – 11+13 = 24 Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Norwich – 1+1 = 2 Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) = 24 + 2 = 26
|
|
Full Match Correct Decision Percentage = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 28/(28+15) = 65.1% |
|
Full Match Correct Decision Percentage (WEIGHTED) = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 34/(34+26) = 56.6% |
APPENDIX
| Key Decisions in the Match | Points |
| Advantage | 1 |
| Foul | 1 |
| Incorrect Corner | 1 |
| Incorrect Goal Kick | 1 |
| Incorrect Throw-in | 1 |
| Other (Ref Positioning, Injuries, Time Wasting, etc.) | 1 |
| Offside | 1 |
| Yellow Card | 2 |
| Red Card | 3 |
| Goal | 3 |
| Penalty | 3 |
NOTE: FOR ANY WRONG DECISION MADE THERE WILL BE NEGATIVE POINTS AWARDED FOR THAT SPECIFIC KIND OF EVENT.
NOTE: ANY INCORRECT OR WRONG DECISION/NON-DECISION WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED WITH A RED COLOUR.
NOTE: ANY DECISION THAT INVOLVES DOUBT IS HIGHLIGHTED AS BLUE IN COLOR.
NOTE: The word ‘FOR’ is used to show IN FAVOR OF.
BELOW IS THE LINK FOR THE “FIFA LAWS OF THE GAME 2015/2016”. ANY LAW OF THE GAME IS DIRECTLY REFERENCED FROM THIS DOCUMENT.
A match in which referee Moss showed us one of his flaws. He is a ref who has a bit of a habit of not keeping an eye on the number of fouls one player is making. In this match he left O’Neil off the hook so many times it beggars belief.
Certainly when a player is making 3 fouls in 2 minutes one should book him to calm him down. O’Neil made 3 fouls and two of them was for pulling back a player within seconds in a deliberate way. That should have been a booking. But Moss ignored it and then O’Neil knew he could do what he wanted as Moss wouldn’t punish him enough.
Let us move on to the Alexis in the camera pit incident. Technically the ref gave the right restart of the match with a throw in in favour of Norwich. The ball had gone out of play when Benett pushed Alexis so once the ball is out of play the ref can only take disciplinary action when a foul is made at that moment. He cannot give a penalty or a foul, the ball has to start again with a throw in. So no complaints about that part of his decision.
But just as happened before Moss was completely not attentive to what happened to Alexis. Pushing a player in the back when the ball is out is not done. The players relax and don’t except an attack any more. Alexis saw the ball going out and pulled up and jumped up to stop his run. Bennet came from behind and used both his hands to push Alexis forward. This push catapulted Alexis in to the camera pit. An act of violent conduct that brought danger of a serious injury to a player. There is only one punishment for this: a red card.
But just as with Debuchy against Stoke the ref of that day was Moss, he let it go. Debuchy lost his place after that match because of the serious attack on him with the ball already out of play. Now a Norwich player did the same and again Moss decided to ignore it. Just imagine if we had lost Alexis after that incident…oh we did…. just as happened with Debuchy whose season and maybe even Arsenal’s career is over after that terrible non punished attack.
The first half score of the ref was 69,5% and if we put weight on it the score drops to 62,5%.
In the second half more of the same. O’Neil could do what he wanted. Eventually he got a yellow card and then again Moss did nothing when he kept on fouling. As I don’t follow the media in England very close I assume that the media has blasted Moss for not sending O’Neil off? Or didn’t they?
To be fair to him he did called some good fouls but still there were too many missed fouls.
The score in the second half was 60% but when we put weight on it the score drops to 50%.
Looking at the whole 90 minutes his score was 65,1% and with weight on the decisions it was 56.6%.
We have seen worse this season so that is improvement looking at other refs. But what really annoys me most is the unpunished thuggery that Moss allowed to let go and this not for the first time and each time with an Arsenal player suffering an injury as a result. The longer Mr. Moss stays in the Pl the more soft he gets on those dangerous things. But that will be part of the way the PGMO want their refs to do their matches I think.
Crazy that the push in the back was not called…a real no brainer to call, too. When it happened during the match, I actually said, “Did that really happen/” to my friend. It was shocking, not that it occurred but that it was ignored by the referee.
The headline is spot on.
There are many thugs in the epl.Some of these errant refs shd be sacked and not allowed to officiate another game.
Moss strikes me as a pliable and clumsy individual. I think this job is not meant for him.
This comment is removed because, quite amazingly, it manages to break almost all of our rules of comment in one go — which is why I thought I would mention it.
It was abusive to the writer
It worked only on generalisations without giving any evidence at all
It suggested that the correspondent knew about the number of readers the article had.
It admitted that the correspondent was making all these comments without actually reading the article.
It suggested that the article was ruining the correspondent’s reputation (sorry I don’t quite grasp that one but I like to be complete on these things).
I think that must be a record.
(Incidentally as often reported before, readership rates vary between roughly around half a million and a million page views per month, at different times of the year – just in case that correspondent is still with us. All articles get around 5000 views at least, some get many more.
Tony
In a sense, O’Neil got his ban. He has been banned for driving for 6 months.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-35062666
As I mentioned in another thread, about 5% of deaths on the jobsite are due to falling into holes or other openings. Moss should be sanctioned for not noticing this, preferably by whatever government department is responsible for worker safety.
Moss was the referee who failed to act last season when Debuchy was pushed into the hoardings at the Emirates and consequently missed several months. Two in two seasons is two too many.
Another excellent review.
The PGMO are certainly consistent when pretending to referee Arsenal matches – consistently incompetent and biased.
Allowing the assult on Sanchez to go unpunished was certainly alarming, even if Moss previously created a precedent re Debuchy. Why are the media ignoring such assaults – do they support GBH on Arsenal players?
Re GBH – to suggest that O’Neill had a charmed life would be an over simplification – Moss wa not doing the job that he is well paid to do – so why not? Is there an instruction to allow (and hence encourage) thuggery against Arsenal players?
Persistent fouling, from midfielders in particular, is a very important tactic in trying to stop us. Mason from last season’s loss at Spurs is one that sticks out, and I also remember City at home last year featuring a lot of it (Milner was one, I think.)
The damning thing for me is that while refs can in theory get a pass on the day- not keeping count well enough in a match- surely they analyse games to death afterwards, and should be in a better position than anyone to spot trends within the league. Trends of foul play, that is.
So after numerous games they have analysed and seen that, alas, they got it wrong by not producing a card early enough for persistent offenders, which allowed players and that team to gain an unfair advantage on the day, they should be entering games pre-armed with the knowledge players or teams are likely to try use a lot of small or tactical fouls to try gain advantages in a way they, the refs, are there to stop.
So they have no excuse. It’s not a case of being biased or prejudiced against players; it’s about using the knowledge available to them to do their job better. The players and teams who they know like to make these fouls need to be watched closely. Instead the refs tend to do the opposite.
As it goes for this game, O Neil’s persistent fouling aside (which I don’t recall picking up on myself) the review seems to confirm my impression at the time : Norwich were fairly clean in the first 30 minutes in particular. Watching it I had a strong impression of that, and felt they resisted umpteen times the chances to kick us that many teams take.
It wasn’t that they were not working hard, they were, they just weren’t fouling us much. Unfortunately it served to make clear the rationale behind fouling us and putting in very strong, often dangerous tackles : those fouls and crunching tackles work, they improve a teams chances of getting a result against us. Also it showed up the lies which conflate hard work with foul play, and use euphemisms instead of the truth : getting about and getting stuck in, playing aggressive, etc. All of which largely mean fouls, strong ones.
Good refereeing can largely stop that stuff in its tracks. When it doesn’t our play is likely to suffer and the opposition takes big encouragement to keep doing their thing.
I don’t know if it influenced this game, and think it was probably a coincidence that we had a very ropey few minutes after the foul on Alexis, in which they scored, but generally I think it works that way. A dangerous or ‘statement’ foul, not dealt with by the ref, has a great chance of getting in our players heads and negatively affecting our performance.
Again that’s something you’d like to think if refs can’t deal with properly in a match their reviews would highlight, improving the chances of them getting it right in the future. In this case we’re left wondering what happened in the review of that push on Debuchy.
Was there really no feedback for Moss, and the other refs, about that, and did Moss really, when the chance came up to show he had learned from the past one, think a sheepish smile was the right action?
Given the oft repeated media narative confirmed by the Neville brothers and other ex players/managers that the way to beat Arsenal is to physically get stuck in when playing us. Assuming the refs are not deaf and can read they must be aware that other teams are encouraged to adopt dubious tactics against us and should therefore go into our matches forewarned and very much on the lookout for such tactics. The fact that the refs allow such tactics simply encourages more and worse butchery against us, most of which goes unpunished.
One can only conclude that they are a bunch of w*****s and don’t give a s**t.
It’s a disgrace.
Mick
Was trying to make a similar point. You’ve made it very well there. Short and sharp (I could learn from that) and totally spot on!
Don’t give a shit might let them off the hook too much,though. They’re wankers who approve of those tactics and, often, do everything they can to facilitate them.
We have a fourth official at every game who is seemingly there just to tell managers to step back into their technical area! My overwhelming desire is that s/he is given a stopwatch on which s/he records time wasting and decides how much should be added on. In addition, as in basketball, why can’t he count the number of fouls by each player and then inform the ref when persistent fouling is identified?
Why am I even bothering to ask these questions? It is clearly the case that the more accountable officials become, the less arbitrary they can be in their decision-making which is the last thing they want as they’d have to treat all teams fairly……….