Untold Ref Review: Manchester City 3 – 3 Sunderland

This article is part of a series stretching over several seasons in which a team of referees analyse the work of refs in Premier League matches.

Our figures show that when we analyse the errors made by refs there are consistent trends which do not “even out” through the season, as some commentators would have it.    All the earlier ref reviews plus analyses of the errors made by refs, and articles relating to our campaign to have the body which organises referees activities reformed, plus an analysis of the background to this campaign, can be found on:

• Untold Ref Reviews …
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Although this is a site built for Arsenal supporters we welcome comments from fans of other teams, although we tend not to publish comments which are simply abusive or which are completely off topic.

Today’s referee is Phil Dowd –

MATCH REVIEW DETAILS – Phil Dowd (2012-03-31)
Period 1
Min	Type	Foul from	On	C/NC	Comment	Weight
2	OTHER	Richards	McClean	C	Push	1
3	PENALTY	Richards		C	some Sunderland players appeal for handball which is rubbish	3
5	OTHER	Colback	Balotelli	C	holding	1
8	OTHER	Bardsley	Balotelli	NC	Replay shows no contact, a dive. Difficult to see for the ref from his angle maybe	1
10	OTHER	Balotelli	Bardsley	NC	Clatters in his back when the defender tries to head the ball, not given	1
12	OTHER	Yaya		C	handball	1
13	OTHER	Larsson	Silva	C	Trip	1
13	OFFSIDE	MC		C	Very clear	1
17	OFFSIDE	MC		C	Correct	1
20	OTHER	Sun?	Yaya	C	jumped in his back, advantage signalled	1
22	OTHER	Throw in		NC	Throwin in to MC given to Sunderland	1
23	OTHER	McClean	Silva	C	Trip	1
25	OTHER	mc?	Larsson	NC	push not given	1
27	OTHER	Silva	Cattermole	C	Jumped in the back	1
29	OTHER	Milner	McClean	C	Jumped in back	1
30	OTHER	Balotelli	Colback	C	Trip	1
31	GOAL	GOAL	Sunderland	C	correct goal, Bendtner positional offside but not active in play	3
32	OTHER	Milner	Bendtner	NC	push in the back not given	1
34	OTHER	Sun?	Silva	C	Little trip but he can continue unchallegend advantage given	1
37	OTHER	Cattermole	Balotelli	C	nothing given, Cattermole takes advantage of the line the ball is running. Balotelli lost the ball and just falls to the ground	1
38	PENALTY	Mignolet	Balotelli	C	Ref gives no penalty when both clash in the penalty area. Replay shows that Mignolet was first to the ball and then Balotelli clattered in to him	3
38	OTHER	Balotelli	Mignolet	NC	Because of Balotelli clattering in at the keeper he spills the ball and the ref gives a corner to City. Should have been a free kick to Sunderland	1
39	OTHER	Balotelli	Turner	C	jumped in the back of the defender	1
39	YELLOW	Balotelli		C	Ref has a word with Balotelli and tells him to cool down a bit, a verbal warning as he showed he was unhappy with the decision	2
39	OTHER	Gardner	Yaya	C	holding for a long time and then tripped him	1
39	YELLOW	Gardner		C	Deliberate fouls one after the other	2
43	PENALTY	Gardner	Dzeko	C	Trip, made contact with his left leg	3
43	GOAL	MC		C	correct goal	3
44	OTHER			C	clash of heads, ref stops play	1
45	YELLOW	Bardsley		NC	while the games is halted for the head clash Barsdley pushes Dzeko in the chest under the nose of the ref, who gives no yellow card. Just a talking too both players	2
47	OTHER	Balotelli	Mignolet	C	Balotelli moved in to stop the progress of the keeper, correct call.	1
49	OTHER	Kompany	Sessegnon	C	assumed correct, held him down	1
49	GOAL	Sun		C	correct goal	3
Period 2
Min	Type	Foul from	On	C/NC	Comment	Weight
48	OTHER	McClean	Dzeko	C	Trip	1
51	OTHER	Cattermole	Yaya	C	Trip	1
55	OTHER	Yaya	Sessegnon	C	Attempted trip from behdin, advantage given as he can continue free and release a striker	1
55	GOAL	Sun		C	Direct result from the great advantage played, correct goal	3
56	OTHER	De Jong	Sessegnon	C	tackle from behind	1
56	YELLOW	De Jong		C	Ref had no option	2
58	OTHER	Johnson	Colback	C	Came just late	1
64	OTHER	Larsson	Dzeko	C	Came in studs showing, didn’t touch him but could be dangerous, correct call	1
69	OTHER	Sun?	MC?	C	Trip but advantage given, Tevez shoots in the side net	1
74	OTHER	sun?	Yaya	NC	Push in the back not given	1
81	OTHER	Tevez	Cattermole	C	Trip	1
82	OTHER	McClean	Yaya	C	Trip	1
85	OTHER	Colback	Johnson	C	Obstruction	1
85	GOAL	ManC		C	Correct goal, also positional offside like with Sunderland first goal	3
86	GOAL	ManC		C	CORRECT GOAL	3
87	OTHER	Sessegnon	Kompany	C	trip	1
88	OTHER	Johnson	McClean	C		1
91	OTHER	Kyrgiakos	balotelli	C	from behind	1
94	OTHER			NC	Despite a Sunderland sub in the extra time ref Dowd does not allow any extra extra time. I’ve seen him doing different once in a Sunderland game	1

After his great game when he did Arsenal – Aston Villa again a performance that can be found on the good side of the ref reviews we have done.

However a few talking points. Manchester City claimed a penalty when Balotelli and Mignolet went for the ball. Mignolet was first and then they clattered together which forced Mignolet to drop the ball that went out of play. This was never a penalty but should have been a free kick to Sunderland. Dowd gave a corner to City.

There was an incident at the end of the first half when he stopped play for a clash of heads. Suddenly there was an incident under the nose of Dowd where Bardsley pushed Dzeko in an aggressive way on the chest. I thought he should have produced a yellow card there.  Such incidents can set a game on fire if you don’t deal with them. Now the half time tea brought some peace.

COMPETENCY SUMMARY – Phil Dowd (2012-03-31)
Period 1	Called	Total	Correct %
GOAL	3	3	100.00
OFFSIDE	2	2	100.00
OTHER	16	22	72.73
PENALTY	3	3	100.00
YELLOW	2	3	66.67
TOTAL	26	33	78.79
WEIGHTED	40	48	83.33
Period 2	Called	Total	Correct %
GOAL	3	3	100.00
OTHER	13	15	86.67
YELLOW	1	1	100.00
TOTAL	17	19	89.47
WEIGHTED	24	26	92.31
Totals	Called	Total	Correct %
GOAL	6	6	100.00
OFFSIDE	2	2	100.00
OTHER	29	37	78.38
PENALTY	3	3	100.00
YELLOW	3	4	75.00
TOTAL	43	52	82.69
WEIGHTED	64	74	86.49

But all in all another solid performance from Dowd who really is having a good season, if not a great.

BIAS SUMMARY – Phil Dowd (2012-03-31)
Period 1	Manchester City	%	Sunderland	%	Total
Correct For	11	42.31	15	57.69	26
Correct For Weighted	19	47.50	21	52.50	40
Incorrect Against	2	28.57	5	71.43	7
Incorrect Against Weighted	3	37.50	5	62.50	8
Fouls Commited	17	70.83	7	29.17	24
Fouls Penalised	11	64.71	7	100.00	18
Period 2	Manchester City	%	Sunderland	%	Total
Correct For	10	58.82	7	41.18	17
Correct For Weighted	14	58.33	10	41.67	24
Incorrect Against	2	100.00	0	0.00	2
Incorrect Against Weighted	2	100.00	0	0.00	2
Fouls Commited	5	35.71	9	64.29	14
Fouls Penalised	5	100.00	8	88.89	13
Totals	Manchester City	%	Sunderland	%	Total
Correct For	21	48.84	22	51.16	43
Correct For Weighted	33	51.56	31	48.44	64
Incorrect Against	4	44.44	5	55.56	9
Incorrect Against Weighted	5	50.00	5	50.00	10
Fouls Commited	22	57.89	16	42.11	38
Fouls Penalised	16	72.73	15	93.75	31

 

The bias numbers are also very close so neither team could really complain about his wrong decisions. Slightly more than his average 8 wrong calls but only one so we will not make a big fuss of that.

The only remark I will make is about the fact that in extra time Sunderland made another substitution. But contrary to the game Sunderland – Arsenal last season where he gave also minutes and then let the play continue and continue until Sunderland scored he now stopped the game after 4.09 extra time on the clock. I think he should have allowed City another half a minute and certainly when they were on the attack.  Or did he learn from his mistakes from last season? Or is he having a soft spot for Sunderland?

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