Special referee review: Chelsea – Tottenham

By Usama & Walter

If you are a regular reader you will know that we normally only undertake reviews of Arsenal games – although for one season we did have referees who supported other teams across England undertake reviews of numerous non-Arsenal matches, in order to get some comparisons with our figures.  Those reviews remain on the Referee Decisions web site.   However we thought we might return to looking at a non-Arsenal match, just to see what our regular team of reviewers would make of the affair.  A summary of the game is at the end of the minute by minute review.

CHELSEA vs. TOTTENHAM

  • COMPETITION: English Premier League
  • MATCH NO. 36
  • DATE: 2nd May 2016
  • VENUE: Stamford Bridge (London, England)

MATCH OFFICIALS:

REFEREE: Mark Clattenburg
1st LINESMAN: Simon Beck
2nd LINESMAN: Jake Collin
4th OFFICIAL: Andre Marriner

First Half

Fouls, Advantages, Cards, and Penalties

Time Foul by Foul For Description & Decision Points
01:21 Eric Dier (Spurs) Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) Dier tripped Fabregas from behind.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

1 (FOUL)

 

01:57 Eric Dier (Spurs) Diego Costa (Chelsea) Dier jumped in the back of Costa while trying to head from behind. Ref warns Dier, 2 fouls in 1 minute.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

1 (FOUL)

 

08:19 Christian Eriksen (Spurs) Pedro Rodriguez (Chelsea) Trip from the side by Eriksen on Pedro.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

1 (FOUL)

 

08:36 Erik Lamela (Spurs) Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) Ivanovic turned quickly when Lamela made sliding scissors like tackle on Ivanovic from behind. The ref correctly gave a foul.

 

But this also should have been a yellow card against Lamela for committing a reckless tackle, but no card was given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 119

“Reckless” means that the player has acted with complete disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, his opponent.

• A player who plays in a reckless manner must be cautioned

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST LAMELA.

1 (FOUL)

2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

12:25 Danny Rose (Spurs) Willian (Chelsea) Willian turned with the ball quickly when Rose came speeding in and took out Willian with a reckless sliding tackle, missing the ball clearly. Chelsea maintained possession until losing the ball. The ref correctly played an advantage and gave a foul.

 

But this also should have been a yellow card against Rose for committing a reckless tackle, but no card was given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 119

“Reckless” means that the player has acted with complete disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, his opponent.

• A player who plays in a reckless manner must be cautioned

 

CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR CHELSEA.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST ROSE.

1 (ADVANTAGE)

1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

13:34 Danny Rose (Spurs) Diego Costa (Chelsea) Rose charged into the back of Costa who jumped to head the ball.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

1 (FOUL)

 

15:34 Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) Danny Rose (Spurs) Rose turned with the ball quickly when Ivanovic came speeding in and took out Rose with a reckless sliding tackle, missing the ball clearly. The ref correctly gave a foul.

 

But this also should have been a yellow card against Ivanovic for committing a reckless tackle, but no card was given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 119

“Reckless” means that the player has acted with complete disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, his opponent.

• A player who plays in a reckless manner must be cautioned

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR SPURS.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST IVANOVIC.

1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

17:17 Kyle Walker (Spurs) Pedro Rodriguez (Chelsea) Walker pushed down Pedro from behind. The ref correctly gave a foul. After committing the foul Walker walked towards Pedro who was lying down and had a deliberate kick at him on his legs.

 

This should have been a straight red card against Walker for committing acts of violent conduct and acts leading to mass confrontation.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 40

Sending­–Off Offences

A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off if he commits any of the following seven offences:

• Serious foul play

• Violent conduct      

• Spitting at an opponent or any other person

• Using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

NO RED CARD AGAINST WALKER.

1 (FOUL)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

22:59 John Obi Mikel (Chelsea) Harry Kane (Spurs) Kane was in control of the ball when Mikel came recklessly charging from the side and took out Kane with a reckless challenge at high momentum. This should have been a foul for Spurs but was not given.

 

This also should have been a yellow card against Mikel for committing a reckless tackle, but no card was given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 119

“Reckless” means that the player has acted with complete disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, his opponent.

• A player who plays in a reckless manner must be cautioned

 

NO FOUL FOR SPURS.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST MIKEL.

-1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

23:26 Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) Harry Kane (Spurs) Ivanovic tripped Kane but Spurs kept attacking forward.

CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR SPURS.

1 (ADVANTAGE)

 

25:56 Kyle Walker (Spurs) Pedro Rodriguez (Chelsea) Just as Pedro passed the ball Walker came charging in at high speed and clattered in to Pedro recklessly. Chelsea continued to attack forward. This was a clear act of recklessness from Walker. The ref correctly played an advantage and gave a yellow card to Walker who should have been sent off earlier.

 

CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR CHELSEA.

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST WALKER.

1 (ADVANTAGE)

2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

28:35 John Obi Mikel (Chelsea) Moussa Dembele (Spurs) Mikel tripped Dembele from behind inside the Chelsea’s half.

CORRECT FOUL FOR SPURS.

1 (FOUL)

 

30:52 Jan Vertonghen (Spurs)

John Terry (Chelsea)

John Terry (Chelsea) Vertonghen was clearly grabbing and holding Terry inside the Spurs’ penalty box while defending a corner. This should have been a penalty for Chelsea and a yellow card against Vertonghen for deliberate pulling and grabbing of opponent but nothing was given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 125

Cautions for Unsporting Behaviour

There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour, e.g. if a player:

• Commits in a reckless manner one of the seven offences that incur a direct free kick

• Commits a foul for the tactical purpose of interfering with or breaking up a promising attack

• Holds an opponent for the tactical purpose of pulling the opponent away from the ball or preventing the opponent from getting to the ball

 

Just a second later Terry swung a malicious elbow in the face of Vertonghen. This was a clear act of violent conduct and Terry should have been given a straight red card. But no card was given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 40

Sending­–Off Offences

A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off if he commits any of the following seven offences:

• Serious foul play

• Violent conduct      

• Spitting at an opponent or any other person

• Using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures

 

NO PENALTY FOR CHELSEA.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST VERTONGHEN.

NO RED CARD AGAINST TERRY.

-3 (PENALTY)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

32:26 Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) Erik Lamela (Spurs) No live footage or replay shown. Assumed correct.

CORRECT FOUL FOR SPURS.

1 (FOUL)

 

34:07 Heung-Min Son (Spurs) Pedro Rodriguez (Chelsea) Heung-Min Son first tripped Pedro slightly then pushed him in back down to the ground. This should have been a foul for Chelsea but was not given.

NO FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

-1 (FOUL)

 

36:45 Jan Vertonghen (Spurs) Diego Costa (Chelsea) Costa was pulled from behind by Vertonghen while standing. This should have been a foul for Chelsea but was not given.

NO FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

-1 (FOUL)

 

37:44 Jan Vertonghen (Spurs)

Diego Costa (Chelsea)

Seconds later from the previous incident Vertonghen pulled Costa’s shirt and shoved him. The ref correctly gave him a yellow card for unsporting behaviour.

 

But this should have been Vertonghen’s second yellow card which means that by now he should have been sent off.

 

Costa on the hand after having his shirt pulled started to shove and push Vertonghen and also tried to bring his head forward for aggression. This was a clear act of unsporting behaviour. This should have been a yellow card against Costa but was not given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 39

Cautionable Offences

A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he commits any of the following seven offences:

• Unsporting behaviour

• Dissent by word or action      

• Persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game

• Delaying the restart of play

• Failure to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner kick, free kick or throw-in

• Entering or re-entering the field of play without the referee’s permission

• Deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee’s permission

 

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST VERTHONGEN.

NO RED CARD AGAINST JAN VERTONGHEN.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST COSTA.

2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

41:45 Moussa Dembele (Spurs) Diego Costa (Chelsea) Dembele tripped Costa from the side.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

1 (FOUL)

 

42:23 Danny Rose (Spurs) Pedro Rodriguez (Chelsea) Pedro got to the ball first when Rose came sliding in recklessly and took out Pedro. The ref correctly gave a foul.

 

But this also should have been a yellow card against Rose for committing a reckless tackle, which means that this should have been Rose’s second yellow card and by now he should have been sent off, but no cards were given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 119

“Reckless” means that the player has acted with complete disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, his opponent.

• A player who plays in a reckless manner must be cautioned

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

NO SECOND YELLOW CARD AGAINST ROSE.

NO RED CARD AGAINST ROSE.

1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

45:00 Danny Rose (Spurs) Willian (Chelsea) Rose brought down Willian from behind.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

1 (FOUL)

 

45:02 Danny Rose (Spurs)

Willian (Chelsea)

Just after the previous foul both players got and started shoving each other and staring down with heads close. This was a clear act of unsporting behaviour from both of these players. Both of them were correctly given a yellow card.

 

But this means this that this should have been Rose’s third yellow card which means by now he should have been sent off for the second time. But no red card was given.

 

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST ROSE.

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST WILLIAN.

NO RED CARD AGAINST ROSE.

2 (YELLOW CARD)

2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

45:09 Moussa Dembele (Spurs) Diego Costa (Chelsea) Due to the previous incident a mass confrontation between teams took place. Moussa Dembele used three of fingers and gouged Costa in the left eye. This was a clear act of violent conduct. Ref Mark Clattenburg probably missed the incident but Assistant Ref Simon Beck was standing right in front of these two players and was watching clearly. This should have been a straight red card against Dembele but no card was given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 40

Sending­–Off Offences

A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off if he commits any of the following seven offences:

• Serious foul play

• Violent conduct      

• Spitting at an opponent or any other person

• Using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures

 

NO RED CARD AGAINST DEMBELE

-3 (RED CARD)

 

45:19 Eric Dier (Spurs) Marco Amelia (Chelsea) Also during the mass confrontation Dier was clearly seen to make rude gestures towards the Chelsea’s substitute goal keeper Marco Amelia. Dier continued to make rude gestures until Amelia was provoked and had to be controlled.

 

This was a clear act of unsporting behaviour and deliberate distraction caused by Dier to opponent during restart of play. This should have been a yellow card against Dier but no card was given.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST DIER.

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

47:33 John Terry (Chelsea) Harry Kane (Spurs) Terry pushed Kane from behind.

CORRECT FOUL FOR SPURS.

1 (FOUL)

 

 
Number of Correct Fouls for Chelsea – 10

Number of Correct Fouls for Spurs – 4

Total Number of Correct Fouls – 14 [14 points]

 

Number of Incorrect Fouls against Chelsea – 2

Number of Incorrect Fouls against Spurs – 1

Total Number of Incorrect Fouls – 3 [3 points]

 

Number of Correct Advantages for Chelsea – 2

Number of Correct Advantages for Spurs – 1

Total Number of Correct Advantages – 3 [3 points]

 

Number of Incorrect Advantages against Chelsea – 0

Number of Incorrect Advantages against Spurs – 0

Total Number of Incorrect Advantages – 0

Number of Correct Yellow Cards for Chelsea – 3

Number of Correct Yellow Cards for Spurs – 1

Total Number of Correct Yellow Cards – 4 [8 points]

Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against Chelsea – 5

Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against Spurs – 3

Total Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards – 8 [16 points]

 

Number of Correct Red Cards for Chelsea – 0

Number of Correct Red Cards for Spurs – 0

Total Number of Correct Red Cards – 0

 

Number of Incorrect Red Cards against Chelsea – 5

Number of Incorrect Red Cards against Spurs – 1

Total Number of Incorrect Red Cards – 6 [18 points]

Number of Correct Penalties for Chelsea – 0

Number of Correct Penalties for Spurs – 0

Total Number of Correct Penalties – 0

 

Number of Incorrect Penalties against Chelsea – 1

Number of Incorrect Penalties against Spurs – 0

Total Number of Incorrect Penalties – 1 [3 points]

Offsides

Time Player Offside Defending Player Description & Decision Points
12:10 Heung-Min Son (Spurs) Gary Cahill (Chelsea) Heung-Min Son was in an offside position. Assistant Ref Jake Collin failed to make the correct call.

NO OFFSIDE FOR CHELSEA.

-1 (OFFSIDE)
24:54 Diego Costa (Chelsea) Toby Alderweireld (Spurs) Costa was not in an offside position. Assistant Ref Simon Beck made the wrong call.

WRONG OFFSIDE AGAINST CHELSEA.                   

-1 (OFFSIDE)
42:41 Diego Costa (Chelsea) Kyle Walker (Spurs) Costa was in an offside position. Assistant Ref Simon Beck made the correct call.

CORRECT OFFSIDE FOR SPURS.                                

1 (OFFSIDE)
Number of Correct Offsides for Chelsea – 0

Number of Correct Offsides for Spurs – 1

Total Number of Correct Offsides – 1 [1 points]

Number of Incorrect Offsides against Chelsea – 2

Number of Incorrect Offsides against Spurs – 0

Total Number of Incorrect Offsides – 2 [2 points]

Goals

Time Goal Scorer Description & Decision Points
34:31 Harry Kane (Spurs) REFER to FOULS at Minute 34:07 Pedro was clearly fouled in the buildup of goal scored by Spurs. This goal should not have counted because Spurs gained possession prior to scoring by means of a foul.

WRONG GOAL AGAINST CHELSEA.

-3 (GOAL)
43:40 Heung-Min Son (Spurs) Clean goal.

CORRECT GOAL FOR SPURS.

3 (GOAL)

 

Number of Correct Goals for Chelsea – 0

Number of Correct Goals for Spurs – 1

Total Number of Correct Goals – 1 [3 points]

Number of Incorrect Goals against Chelsea – 1

Number of Incorrect Goals against Spurs – 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
06:05 Warnings In the middle of the play Mikel and Dembele have some shoving on each other with potentially harsh exchange of words and gestures. The ref breaks the confrontation and handouts strict warnings to both teams and that any further incidents of such will not be tolerated.

CORRECT WARNING TO CHELSEA’S PLAYERS.

CORRECT WARNING TO SPURS’ PLAYERS.

1 (WARNING)

1 (WARNING)

Number of Other Correct Decisions for Chelsea – 1

Number of Other Correct Decisions for Spurs – 1

Total Number of Other Correct Decisions – 2 [2 points]

First Half Referee Report

Total Number of Correct Decisions for Chelsea – 10+2+3+1 = 16

Total Number of Correct Decisions for Spurs – 4+1+1+1+1+1 = 9

Total Number of Correct Decisions = 16 + 9 = 25

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Chelsea – 10+2+6+1 = 19

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Spurs – 4+1+2+1+3+1 = 12

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) = 19 + 12 = 31

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Chelsea – 2+5+5+1+2+1 = 16

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Spurs – 1+3+1 = 5

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions = 16 + 5 = 21

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Chelsea – 2+10+15+3+2+3 = 35

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Spurs – 1+6+3 = 10

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) = 35 + 10 = 45

 

 First Half Correct Decision Percentage = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 25/(25+21) = 54.3%

 

 First Half Correct Decision Percentage (WEIGHTED) = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) =  31/(31+45) = 40.7%

Second Half

Fouls, Advantages, Cards, and Penalties

Time Foul by Foul For Description & Decision Points
49:15 Gary Cahill (Chelsea) Harry Kane (Spurs) Cahill was trying to hold Kane’s arm who was shielding the ball.

CORRECT FOUL FOR SPURS.

1 (FOUL)

 

50:21 Erik Lamela (Spurs) Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) Fabregas was in control of the ball when Lamela came lunging in two footed full studs up and took out Fabregas. The ref correctly gave a foul.

 

This also should have been a straight red card against Lamela for committing act of serious foul play. But instead the referee opted for a lesser punishment and gave him a yellow card.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 128

Serious Foul Play

A player is guilty of serious foul play if he uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is in play.

 

A tackle that endangers the safety of an opponent must be sanctioned as serious foul play.

 

Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.

 

Advantage should not be applied in situations involving serious foul play unless there is a clear subsequent opportunity to score a goal. The referee must send off the player guilty of serious foul play when the ball is next out of play.

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

WRONG YELLOW CARD AGAINST LAMELA.

NO RED CARD AGAINST LAMELA.

1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

50:42 Eric Dier (Spurs) Willian (Chelsea) Willian was running forward with the ball inside the Chelsea’s half when Dier stood in Willian’s way by block him off at high speed. This should have been a foul for Chelsea but was not given.

 

This also should have been a second yellow card against Dier for committing an attack breaking foul. Which means that by now he should have been sent off.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 125

Cautions for Unsporting Behaviour

There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour, e.g. if a player:

• Commits in a reckless manner one of the seven offences that incur a direct free kick

• Commits a foul for the tactical purpose of interfering with or breaking up a promising attack

• Holds an opponent for the tactical purpose of pulling the opponent away from the ball or preventing the opponent from getting to the ball

 

NO FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST DIER.

NO RED CARD AGAINST DIER.

-1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

56:08 Moussa Dembele (Spurs) Eden Hazard (Chelsea) Dembele charged down Hazard from the side.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

1 (FOUL)

 

59:56 Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) Christian Eriksen (Spurs) Eriksen and Matic challenged for a header when Matic stretched out his forearm while jumping and made reckless contact in the face of Eriksen. This should have been a foul for Spurs but was not given.

 

This also should have been a yellow card against Matic for committing a reckless foul, but no card was given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 119

“Reckless” means that the player has acted with complete disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, his opponent.

• A player who plays in a reckless manner must be cautioned

 

NO FOUL FOR SPURS.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST MATIC.

-1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

60:13 Christian Eriksen (Spurs) Willian (Chelsea) Eriksen tripped Willian from behind.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

1 (FOUL)

 

61:15 Diego Costa (Chelsea) A Straight long pass from some distance hits the arm of Costa.

CORRECT FOUL FOR SPURS.

1 (FOUL)

 

69:10 Christian Eriksen (Spurs) Eden Hazard (Chelsea) Eriksen deliberately pulled down Hazard from behind who on the counter attack.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST ERIKSEN.

1 (FOUL)

2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

70:18 Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) Christian Eriksen (Spurs) Ivanovic kicked and tripped Eriksen from behind when Eriksen was in a very promising attacking position inside the Chelsea’s half. The referee correctly gave a foul and a yellow card.

 

This should have been a second yellow card against Ivanovic which means that by he should have been sent off by now. But no red card was given by the referee.

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR SPURS.

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST IVANOVIC.

NO RED CARD AGAINST IVANOVIC.

1 (FOUL)

2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

73:00 Moussa Dembele (Spurs) Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) High foot by Dembele catching Fabregas on the shoulder.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

1 (FOUL)

 

77:28 Danny Rose (Spurs) Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) Rose tripped Ivanovic by falling on his legs.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

1 (FOUL)
84:05 Eden Hazard (Chelsea) Erik Lamela (Spurs) Trip by Hazard on Lamela.

CORRECT FOUL FOR SPURS.

1 (FOUL)

 

85:10 Eric Dier (Spurs) Oscar (Chelsea) Oscar tried to gain possession of the open ball inside the center of the field when Dier sliding in recklessly and took out Oscar first and later made slightly contact with the ball. This should have been a foul for Chelsea but was not given.

 

This also should have been a third yellow card against Dier for committing a reckless foul, which means that should have been sent off for the second time in this match. But no cards were given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 119

“Reckless” means that the player has acted with complete disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, his opponent.

• A player who plays in a reckless manner must be cautioned

 

NO FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

NO SECOND YELLOW CARD AGAINST DIER.

NO RED CARD AGAINST DIER.

-1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

85:20 Ryan Mason (Spurs) Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) Mason pushed Fabregas in the back.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

1 (FOUL)

 

85:24 Erik Lamela (Spurs) Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) Seconds after the previous foul Lamela walked in the path of Fabregas who was lying down and walked over his hand by stepping his studs and later had kick back on Fabregas. This was a clear act of violent conduct and Lamela should have been given a straight red card but no card was given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 40

Sending­–Off Offences

A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off if he commits any of the following seven offences:

• Serious foul play

• Violent conduct      

• Spitting at an opponent or any other person

• Using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures

 

NO RED CARD AGAINST LAMELA.

-3 (RED CARD)

 

86:44 Eric Dier (Spurs) Eden Hazard (Chelsea) Dier came charging in and took out Hazard with reckless sliding tackle. The ref correctly gave a foul and a yellow card.

 

But this should have been Dier’s fourth yellow card of the match which means that he should have been sent for the third time by now. But no red card was given.

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST DIER.

NO RED CARD AGAINST DIER.

1 (FOUL)

2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

86:50 John Obi Mikel (Chelsea) Soon after the previous foul, Mikel started to charge and began shoving Spurs’ players leading to another mass confrontation. The ref correctly booked Mikel for his unsporting behaviour.

 

But this should have been Mikel’s second yellow card which means that by now he should have been sent off. But no red card was given.

 

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST MIKEL.

NO RED CARD AGAINST MIKEL.

2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

86:58 Kyle Walker (Spurs)

Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)

  During the mass confrontation Walker grabbed Azpilicueta by the neck and started pushing him. Azpilicueta reacted by pushing and shoving Walker. This a clear of unsporting behaviour from both the players.

This should have been a yellow card to both of the players. But was not given.

 

This also means that this should have been Walker’s third yellow card of the match and by now he should have been sent off for the second time in this match. But no red card was given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 39

Cautionable Offences

A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he commits any of the following seven offences:

• Unsporting behaviour

 

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST WALKER.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST AZPILICUETA.

NO RED CARD AGAINST WALKER.

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

94:11 Harry Kane (Spurs) Willian (Chelsea) Recklessly late sliding tackle from behind by Kane, taking out Willian.

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST KANE

1 (FOUL)

2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

94:12 Moussa Dembele (Spurs) Just as the foul happened Dembele tried to kick the ball and kicked it in the face of Willian.

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST DEMEBELE.

2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

 

94:19 John Terry (Chelsea)   During the mass confrontation Terry started to push and shove other Spurs’ players. This was a clear of unsporting behaviour from Terry. Terry should have been booked for this but no card was given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 39

Cautionable Offences

A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he commits any of the following seven offences:

• Unsporting behaviour

 

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST JOHN TERRY.

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

95:24 Oscar (Chelsea) Erik Lamela (Spurs) Oscar made a clean sliding tackle and took the ball away but he went in two footed to tackle the ball. This was a reckless approach from Oscar. This should have been a foul for Spurs and a yellow card against Oscar.

NO FOUL FOR SPURS.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST OSCAR.

-1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

95:26 Eric Dier (Spurs) Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) Dier went sliding in two footed, full studs up and went through the back of Fabregas’ legs. This was a clear act of Serious Foul Play. This should have been a foul for Chelsea but instead the referee played an advantage. In cases like these advantage cannot be applied.

 

This also should have been a straight red card against Dier for serious foul play. This means that Dier should have been sent off for the fourth time in this match but no cards were given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 128

Serious Foul Play

A player is guilty of serious foul play if he uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is in play.

 

A tackle that endangers the safety of an opponent must be sanctioned as serious foul play.

 

Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.

 

Advantage should not be applied in situations involving serious foul play unless there is a clear subsequent opportunity to score a goal. The referee must send off the player guilty of serious foul play when the ball is next out of play.

 

A player who is guilty of serious foul play should be sent off and play is restarted with a direct free kick from the position where the offence occurred (see Law 13 – Position of free kick) or a penalty kick (if the offence occurred inside the offender’s penalty area).

 

WRONG ADVANTAGE PLAYED AGAINST SPURS.

NO FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

NO RED CARD AGAINST DIER.

-1 (ADVANTAGE)

-1 (FOUL)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

95:34 Ryan Mason (Spurs) Eden Hazard (Chelsea) Hazard was speeding through the Spurs’ half on the counter attack when Mason lunged in from behind, one footed, studs up on the back Hazard’s knee. Mason was nowhere near the ball and committed an act of serious foul play. The ref correct gave a foul.

 

This also should have been a straight red card against Mason for committing serious foul play. But instead the referee opted for a lesser punishment by wrongly giving him a yellow card.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 128

Serious Foul Play

A player is guilty of serious foul play if he uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is in play.

 

A tackle that endangers the safety of an opponent must be sanctioned as serious foul play.

 

Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.

 

Advantage should not be applied in situations involving serious foul play unless there is a clear subsequent opportunity to score a goal. The referee must send off the player guilty of serious foul play when the ball is next out of play.

 

A player who is guilty of serious foul play should be sent off and play is restarted with a direct free kick from the position where the offence occurred (see Law 13 – Position of free kick) or a penalty kick (if the offence occurred inside the offender’s penalty area).

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR CHELSEA.

WRONG YELLOW CARD AGAINST MASON.

NO RED CARD AGAINST MASON.

1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

 

95:41 Ryan Mason (Spurs)

Eden Hazard (Chelsea)

  Shortly after the foul, Hazard stood up and appeared to have scratched and slapped Mason in the face. Mason reacted by grabbing Hazard by the throat and attempted to head butt him. This was a clear act of violent conduct from both the players and both of them should have been sent off but no cards were given.

 

LAW 12 FOULS AND MISCONDUCT PAGE 40

Sending­–Off Offences

A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off if he commits any of the following seven offences:

• Serious foul play

• Violent conduct      

• Spitting at an opponent or any other person

• Using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures

 

NO RED CARD AGAINST HAZARD.

NO RED CARD AGAINST MASON.

-3 (RED CARD)

-3 (RED CARD)

 

 
Number of Correct Fouls for Chelsea – 10

Number of Correct Fouls for Spurs – 4

Total Number of Correct Fouls – 14 [14 points]

 

Number of Incorrect Fouls against Chelsea – 3

Number of Incorrect Fouls against Spurs – 2

Total Number of Incorrect Fouls – 5 [5 points]

 

Number of Correct Advantages for Chelsea – 0

Number of Correct Advantages for Spurs – 0

Total Number of Correct Advantages – 0

 

Number of Incorrect Advantages against Chelsea – 0

Number of Incorrect Advantages against Spurs – 1

Total Number of Incorrect Advantages – 1 [1 points]

Number of Correct Yellow Cards for Chelsea – 4

Number of Correct Yellow Cards for Spurs – 2

Total Number of Correct Yellow Cards – 6 [12 points]

Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against Chelsea – 4

Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against Spurs – 5

Total Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards – 9 [18 points]

 

Number of Correct Red Cards for Chelsea – 0

Number of Correct Red Cards for Spurs – 0

Total Number of Correct Red Cards – 0

 

Number of Incorrect Red Cards against Chelsea – 9

Number of Incorrect Red Cards against Spurs – 3

Total Number of Incorrect Red Cards – 12 [36 points]

Offsides

Time Player Offside Defending Player Description & Decision Points
62:29 Eden Hazard (Chelsea) Toby Alderweireld (Spurs) Hazard was in an offside position. Assistant Ref Jake Collin made the correct call.

CORRECT OFFSIDE FOR SPURS.

1 (OFFSIDE)
Number of Correct Offsides for Chelsea – 0

Number of Correct Offsides for Spurs – 1

Total Number of Correct Offsides – 1 [1 points]

Number of Incorrect Offsides against Chelsea – 0

Number of Incorrect Offsides against Spurs – 0

Total Number of Incorrect Offsides – 0

Goals

Time Goal Scorer Description & Decision Points
57:41 Gary Cahill (Chelsea) Clean goal.

CORRECT GOAL FOR CHELSEA.

3 (GOAL)
82:39 Eden Hazard (Chelsea) Clean goal.

CORRECT GOAL FOR CHELSEA.

3 (GOAL)
Number of Correct Goals for Chelsea – 2

Number of Correct Goals for Spurs – 0

Total Number of Correct Goals – 2 [6 points]

Number of Incorrect Goals against Chelsea – 0

Number of Incorrect Goals against Spurs – 0

Total Number of Incorrect Goals – 0

Second Half Referee Report

Total Number of Correct Decisions for Chelsea – 10+4+2 = 16

Total Number of Correct Decisions for Spurs – 4+2+1 = 7

Total Number of Correct Decisions = 16 + 7 = 23

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Chelsea – 10+8+6 = 24

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Spurs – 4+4+1 = 9

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) = 24 + 9 = 33

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Chelsea – 3+4+9 = 16

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Spurs – 2+1+5+3 = 11

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions = 16 + 11 = 27

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Chelsea – 3+8+27 = 38

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Spurs – 2+1+10+9 = 22

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) = 38 + 22 = 60

 

 

 Second Half Correct Decision Percentage = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 23/(23+27) = 46.0%

 

 Second Half Correct Decision Percentage (WEIGHTED) = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) =  33/(33+60) = 35.4%

 

Full Time (1st Half + 2nd Half) Referee Report

Total Number of Correct Decisions for Chelsea – 16+16 = 32

Total Number of Correct Decisions for Spurs – 9+7 = 16

Total Number of Correct Decisions = 32 + 16 = 48

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Chelsea – 19+24 = 43

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Spurs – 12+9 = 21

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) = 43 + 21 = 64

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Chelsea – 16+16 = 32

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Spurs – 5+11 =16

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions = 32 + 16 = 48

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Chelsea – 35+38 = 73

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Spurs – 10+22 = 32

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) = 73 + 32 = 105

 

 

Full Match Correct Decision Percentage = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 48/(48+48) = 50.0%

 

Full Match Correct Decision Percentage (WEIGHTED) = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) =  64/(64+105) = 37.8%

 

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.

 

Spurs started the match by committing soft fouls at every 50-50 or midfield battles for the first five minutes. Dier getting a verbal from the ref for the initial fouling. A referee’s initial warning to any player on the pitch should convey a message of the referee’s authority to both teams, so that they should not cross the line. Instead minutes later Mikel and Dembele clashed amongst themselves. Clattenburg gave a warning again to both teams.

Even with two warnings in the first 10 minutes Spurs did the opposite, Spurs committed number of reckless tackles. Due to Spurs’ recklessness and the referee’s failure to issue any card to the Spurs’ players, Chelsea saw the chance and committed their share of reckless tackles. And the referee still had not given a yellow card to any player.

In the 18th minute Kyle Walker deliberately kicked out at Pedro with the Assistant Jake Collin watching clearly. No red card was given.

At the half hour mark during a Chelsea’s corner, Vertonghen was grabbing and pulling Terry. Chelsea should have had a penalty. But then Terry raised his elbow and hit strongly Vertonghen in the face. No red card given. If only the referee had punished someone earlier in the game.

Spurs continued to commit reckless and border line serious foul play but Mark Clattenburg kept his cards in the pocket. Clattenburg’s consistent failure to give out cards mainly against Spurs in most of the first half was the beginning of the formation of an ‘active volcano’ in the Chelsea players. Especially Willian who was by far the most fouled player on the pitch. And on the verge of halftime the volcano erupted. Rose with a poor challenge on Willian. Willian confronted Rose, pushed, and shoved him. Rose doing the same and soon it led to the first big mass confrontation of the game.

Rose and Willian clashed near manager’s touchline, slightly outside. This incident turned into a mass confrontation mainly due to the Spurs’ manager Mauricio Pochettino. Pochettino had no right to cross his designated line and jump on the field and step in between Rose and Willian. As a result of this it was a chain of line crossing from both teams. Spurs’ staff jumped in trying to defend their manager. Chelsea’s staff saw that and jumped in as well to defend their players. And to stop all this the ground stewards and security had to jump in as well.

One key person could have stopped all the moment it had happened, the Fourth Official Andre Marriner. He was the nearest Assistant Ref to the incident. If he could have stopped Pochettino or entered the field himself then this huge confrontation could have been prevented. But instead he was last one to react and before he tried to help the situation it was rumble in the jungle.

Law 6 – Assistant Referee: Mass Confrontations Page 104

“In situations of mass confrontation, the nearest assistant referee may enter the field of play to assist the referee. The other assistant referee must also observe and record details of the incident.”

Second half started calmly but escalated exponentially when Lamela lunged in with studs on Fabregas. No red card was given. Dier, Ivanovic, Mikel, Rose, Lamela and Dier Again, all continued to commit numerous potentially injuring inducing challenges. And the referee still left many players unpunished. As a result of this there was a second eruption. In the 87th minute Dier tore through Hazard and was given his first yellow card of the match. This time Mikel had lost it completely and started to push and shove, which led to the second mass confrontation of the match.

In the 94th minute Kane and Dembele fouled Willian very badly, when there was a third mass confrontation when John Terry also had enough and saw the opportunity to jump in and attack Dembele. Mark Clattenburg saw things getting out of hand and started to book some players (too late, too late). This was the time of the match when the players had taken the rules in to their hands and couldn’t care less about the referee. The referee had lost all his credibility at that point and handing out yellow cards made no difference to the players.

And in the last minute of the match Dier and Mason nearly broke Fabregas’ and Hazard’s legs respectively by committing some cookie crunching tackles, which led to the fourth mass confrontation of the match. The ref gave out some yellow cards, but the match was finished at that point.

Given Mark Clattenburg’s high reputation, huge big game experience and well credited ability he should have handled this match by stamping his mark on the players. All these confrontations could easily have been prevented if Mark Clattenburg had enforced his authority and punished players for their specific fouls from the very first minute.

Law 5 – The Referee: Powers and Duties Page 25

“Each match is controlled by a referee who has full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed.”

“Controls the match in cooperation with the assistant referees and, where applicable, with the fourth official”

“Takes action against team officials who fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and may, at his discretion, expel them from the field of play and its immediate surrounds”

With Spurs’ rough foul play style this season and Chelsea’s reputation for poor behaviour as well, Clattenburg’s ultra-lenient refereeing added fuel to the fire.

  • 1st Half = 54.3% and 40.7% (Weighted) Very poor.
  • 2nd Half = 46.0% and 35.4% (Weighted) Disastrous.
  • Full Match = 50.0% and 37.8% (Weighted) Equal to a coin toss.

There was a total of 20 Wrong Major Decisions in this match. 1 illegal goal against Chelsea, 1 penalty not given for Chelsea, 14 red cards not given against Spurs and 4 red card not given against Chelsea.

  • Eric Dier should have been sent off four times (3 times for second yellow cards and once for a direct red card).
  • Danny Rose should have been sent twice for second yellow cards.
  • Kyle Walker should have been sent off twice (once for a second yellow card and once for a direct red card).
  • Ryan Mason should have been sent off twice, both times for a direct red card.
  • Erik Lamela should have been sent off twice, both times for a direct red card.
  • Moussa Dembele should have been off once for a direct red card.
  • Jan Vertonghen should have been sent off once for a second yellow card.
  • John Terry should have been off once for a direct red card.
  • Eden Hazard should have been off once for a direct red card.
  • Branislav Ivanovic should have been sent off once for a second yellow card.
  • John Obi Mikel should have been sent off once for a second yellow card.

A note about comments.

Untold Arsenal is a web site set up by people who support the manager, the players and the club, for people with a similar outlook.  Over the 8 years we’ve been in operation we’ve had thousands of comments posted which are from people who don’t share our views, and as long as these comments were not abusive we’ve generally published them and answered them.  However despite our patience in answering such points with evidence, we have some people sending in posts reiterating the same old issues while utterly ignoring the evidence based answers we have presented.  Reading the same stuff over and over again, without any attempt to carry the debate forwards based on evidence is making the commentary part of the site tedious, so we won’t be publishing any more of these.

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46 Replies to “Special referee review: Chelsea – Tottenham”

  1. I would like to thank Usama and Walter for this extra ref review.

    Clearly all credibility in terms of refereeing was lost, and we were able to see the lengths that some clubs will go to hit and kick the opposition no matter what.

    In an earlier set of notes it was pointed out that a robot giving decisions at random, first to one side then the other, would get a 50% score for decision accuracy. So the scores of this referee, as pointed out in the article here, was effectively that of a robot with no programming in relation to the laws of the game.

    How could such a thing happen?

  2. Clattenburg’s reward is to be given the FA Cup Final and amazingly the Champions League Final !!

  3. A good review.

    Would the Referee’s decision making be so bad if you took into account that in England ‘thug football’ is an important part of the game and is preferred to the ‘skill’ version played on mainland Europe?

  4. Andy L, I can imagine Simeone licking his lips by the thought of that appointment….

  5. pgMOB Rules Football. Ok?

    A remarkable contrast to the binary application observed from Mike Dean by all who were watching (the football) when the Arsenal went to Stamford bridge.

    And there it is. Bells and, yes, whistles included.

    Very. Telling.

  6. Walter, I think not only Simone but a whole raft of thugs and cheats from Real Madrid as well surely? I am thinking – Ramos, Pepe, Carvajal and certainly one of the worlds best cheats – Marcelo. Ronaldo is no angel either where cheating comes into it. So I think this lot will all be licking their chops as well.

    Frankly the game is even more laughable (eg its already laughable) when Clattenburg can be awarded Champions League Final and FA Cup Final. When you think that occasionally when TV emabrarrases a ref they get demoted for a week here we are he gets a promotion to the top of the game. I know it different organisations but even so – blind leading the blind comes to mind.

    Its true to say I am embarrassed as an Englishman that he is a ref in the Euros as well and also that after more than a week (from the Chelsea/Spurs game) there has been no sanctions or follow up from the FA other than a mild – cannot control your teams. We all know that means a £10k fine – and even more laughing from us the supporters of football.

  7. Usama and Walter. Please do not feel offended if I should say this special referee review is too lengthty. Thus making it cumbersome to read through the whole article.

    I’ve read the article carefully but halfway through. Then I rushed through the remaining. In future, I’ll suggest special referee report like this one should be summarized by limiting it to the main happenings of refereeing the game by the match officials as it has unfolded.

    Official.
    Arsenal have officially qualified for next season’s Ucl as a result of Man Utd losing against West Hammers last night. No club can unturn Arsenal qualification anymore.

    What remains now is, in what position will Arsenal finally finished in the table? Man Utd can still qualify by winning their last game at home but if Man City lose away to Swansea City. For the shabby way the Man City owners had treated Manuel Pelegrini, I’ll prefer if the results in these 2 games on Sunday hand Ucl qualification to Man Utd to make Pep Guardiola play in the Europa League.

  8. And he is supposed to be the best referee that we have – no wonder he has two entries on our Hall of Shame. Not fit to carry a whistle.

  9. Sad part is that refs seem more determined than ever not to see a big part of their job as protecting players.

    To me that’s so obviously a major part of the job and even the thinking behind the rules. You can’t do anything to save a player if someone happens to make a terrible challenge on them which causes a bad injury, but you can apply the laws all the time in a way that serves to reduce the probability of such a tackle being made.

    You do that through appropriate warnings, yellows and reds. If the temperature is clearly rising in a game, a ref should be more willing to issue a yellow. They shouldn’t make one up, but should be primed to issue one for the next bookable offence.

    That’s simply not the way of it here. Instead there seems to be the bizarre idea that in a more furious game, if there’s a lot at stake in particular, they should be more reluctant to use cards. Players never fail to pick up on the lenient approach. One clear consequence of this is that instead of minimising the prospect of bad challenges you do the exact opposite.

    I watched our u21 game last night and about 5 minutes in someone smashed Jeff in a challenge. One of those where the ball fell to allow the opposition player to get some touch on the ball before wildly connecting with the opponent.

    It couldn’t have been clearer that this was a player extremely pumped up for the game and who surely wanted to hit someone hard early. A reckless dangerous challenge. The ref was so close you could see his reaction as the challenge went in and he was totally ok with it, not a twitch, wanted play to carry on.

    If a refs job was to try offer layers protection and reduce the threat of injury he would never have done that in a million years. Maybe he wouldn’t have to book the player, though it looked a definite card to me, but you’d give a foul and warn the player to calm down.

    Once again the only conclusion was that this was a ref who did not see the game that way, who did not view protecting players as a major part of his job. Jeff was able to carry on after treatment, but that’s the third time now I’ve seen him caught by heavy challenges/fouls, and I’ve only watched him about four times plus highlights.

    We all know how these views, and the reviews, are ridiculed by rival fans and some of our own, but you can guarantee any of those people would be furious if any of their players have their legs broken by horror challenges. Well, you can”t prove those challenges are a direct result of anything that has gone before-i.e lax refereeing- but it shouldn’t be possible to deny that lax refereeing makes poor or terrible challenges much more likely.

    It’s a hard idea to get your head around that what occurred in the game in question makes it more likely some other player will get injured in some other game, or just hard to express that idea with precision, but I’m sure it’s true.

    Fabregas could have been looking at a bad injury as a result of the ref performing so badly on the day; someone else, or everyone else, is now a bit more likely to be injured as a result of that final gross failure from Clattenberg in not even booking Dier.

    Dier’s already notched up one injury this season- Cleverly early on- and the way refs have handled him all year makes it very likely he’ll get another one soon.

    Unless he’s very stupid, he’ll play a different game at the Euros, as will Clattenberg, which just leaves the old question of why.

    Why have we decided here to play, unofficially, by different rules? Who benefits?Who wants it to remain like that, or to become even more like that?

  10. I wonder are we heading for a points deduction for both teams
    In the same why Arsenal and man u td had for their mass brawl (mild in comparison)gduring the 1991 season.
    I have my doubts that the fa will inflect this punishment on the darlings of the media.

  11. EIGHTEEN red cards not given… wow. It is very fortunate that nobody got seriously hurt.

    Textbook example of how to lose control of a game.

  12. Yes Pete and the sad thing is that if he had handed out the correct cards from the start the players would have calmed down and certainly would have when the first player was send off.
    Game management they call it… LOL…. this was a perfect example of game mismanagement.

  13. Contrast the post match reaction to the Arsenal game where there was a media outcry lasting days for Mason’s decision to not give Coquelin a second yellow card for a fairly innocuous challenge with the praise that Clattenburg has received from a majority of pundits for keeping all 22 players on the pitch and keeping the red cards in his pocket.
    Talk Sport presenters in particular came out with all the old cliches, ‘it’s a man’s game’, it’s a contact sport’, ‘good old fashioned, committed tackles’, ‘it’s what the fans want to see’ etc etc in order to justify what was really a disgrace to football. Maintaining their policy of never knowingly criticizing Spurs they claimed it was Chelsea fault for winding the Spurs players up with their pre-match comments.

  14. Oga Tony, permit me please to use this Untold Arsenal forum to discourage the Boss from signing Graint Xhaka from gladbach if d report on it on ESPNFC is true.

    His stats as being summarized on espnfc doesn’t worth the £33m + add ons Arsenal will pay before getting him.

    The Boss shouldn’t rush to sign any player because some Arsenal fans want him to spend the cash. Xhaka is reported to hv scored only 6 goals this season, or is it during his been at gladbach?

    The Boss should go for the big frog that can lay many eggs or have many eggs laid for Arsenal. And not go after a small frog that can only lay a few eggs or hv a few eggs laid.

    Arsenal need many goals to enabled them win titles next season. And only players who can provide these goals or have them provided in appreciable mumber should be signed.

    Apart of N’golo Kante who is being rumoured by d media for Arsenal to sign, the Boss should wholeheartedly go after Paul Pogba for steel, dynamism, attacks, goals, assists and authority at Arsenal’s midfield.

  15. I think we already have a big frog up front. He did lay an egg on Saturday; which was nice!

  16. Thanks for a very interesting review…two sides who get away with rather a lot, and are protected by the media and pundits.
    A damning indictment of the clubs, the ref and the English game in general.
    Clattenberg has clearly been keeping his head down, this week , we found out why.
    For the WOB who want us to play like that, ask yourselves a question, if Arsenal went out playing like that, would we escape with no red cards on the day, only 1 retrospective, and very little media scrutiny, indeed praise from some quarters.Think we all know the answer to that.
    Spurs have been getting away with this all season. What does Dier have to do to get sent off?
    The good thing, Spurs imploded in this game, I am Pulis, Big Sam, Hughes and other wind up merchants will have taken note.

  17. Thank you Walter and Usama. Shocking levels of thuggery allowed to go on by one of the best refs from England.

    With these agenda-driven PL refs I fear for Atletico; this ref will approach the CL final with his mind set on which team should win, and I just can’t see him allowing Atletico to win. I don’t really care, after Atletico employed negative tactics to reach the final, but a game should never be decided by a ref.

  18. I hope the pigmob read this article. I am very surprised that you used black type at all. I am also curious about point deductions in this case as mentioned above in the comments. Ultimately we must ask about player safety when a referee fails to control a game. How lucky are both clubs to be not looking at multiple serious injuries? The time for change movement could perhaps focus on the pigmob as the area where change might be most urgent.

  19. You’ve missed quite a few and, notwithstanding your efforts to be objective, they seem to be ones that were against Spurs.

    For instance, and just off the top of my head, Fabregas kicked out after losing the ball on the edge of the Spurs area. He wasn’t fouled. It was quite early. It was Beckhamesque. Red card? Nothing done!

    And most obviously, you point out that a Chelsea player was fouled in the built-up to a Spurs goal, but not that Kane was very obviously fouled to initiate the attack for second!

    Also: Firstly, it is literally impossible to tell whether Lamela treads on Fabregas’ accidentally or whether it was deliberate. Literally! Secondly, just because the SKY commentary team said it looked like Dembele tried to gouge Costa’s eye and then persistently referred to it as such, it doesn’t mean every one has to parrot them. It was not an eye gouge. It was more of a clutching rake – much like the one Torres did on Vertonghen (but escaped punishment even though the FA had clear video evidence of it). Dembele deserved a three match ban – just as Torres did. But it was not an eye gouge.

    You also mention Dier gesturing at Chelsea’s reserve keeper but not that Fabregas was hurling obscenities in Spanish at the Spurs coaching staff and Erik Lamela right from the off. Or that after the match he flicked Spurs players and staff in the groin.

    The whole background to the match was wrong – and allowed to be so by the FA. The Swansea manager said he wanted Leicester to win the league and then sent out a team against them without any strikers, literally passed the ball to a Leicester player for the first goal and looked generally powder-puff – but were good enough to beat Liverpool the next week. Pulis said he wanted Leicester to win the league and then his team was feeble against Arsenal (like, maybe, they were saving themselves!?!?!), feeble against West Ham, but somehow managed to play in between those two games against Spurs like their lives depended upon it! Spurs were forced to play a day after Leicester repeatedly due to TV scheduling. And to top it all had to listen to the Chelsea manager and several of their players mouthing off for weeks before the match about who they wanted to win the league/deserved to win the league and who they were determined to stop doing so. The FA should have clamped down on that the first time anyone who had anything to do with anyone who still had to play either of the protagonists opened his mouth. It created an unbelievable tension – something I suspect the FA were happy with! And if you are tempted to think this is sour grapes, try taking the red blinkers off and look at it from the other perspective. How about if Newcastle need to win to stay up on the last day? And from here on in everyone to do with Spurs makes comments about Newcastle deserve to stay up, how Andros Townsend grew up at the club and still has many friends there, etc. And then totally fails to perform! I mean, they are totally shot mentally, as was obvious against Southampton. So it would plausible enough without anything dodgy, right??? Would that be acceptable or would Sunderland have grounds for complaint? Or, on the other hand, if they say Sunderland have plenty of ex Spurs players, and one loanee so they want them to stay up, and then they totally obliterate Newcastle. I mean it’s plausible, right, Newcastle have been pretty poor this season and Spurs are still fighting for second. There is plenty of scope for that being a natural outcome without anything untoward. So would Newcastle be right to complain and point to Tottenham’s capitulation against Southampton?

    No, the truth is that both sets of players reaction was over the top. But the FA could have drastically reduced the tension by clamping down on the first ‘involved’ person to mouth off about who they wanted or didn’t want to win the league. But folk are too busy exonerating them because facing and accepting this might mean conceding something to Spurs! Likewise, the clearly prejudicial scheduling that the footballing authorities should not so meekly allow TV to set! And thirdly Flattened for allowing the match to completely get away from him. The first two were responsible for allowing the tension, for what was always going to be a tense game, to get completely out of hand. And the last was responsible for totally failing to cope with that pressure – and they’ve rewarded him!

  20. P.S. you also forgot to mention the Chelsea players surrounding and hounding the officials for every incident – when where no foul was committed.

  21. Amazingly only the third worst refereeing performance we’ve analysed this year. Craig Pawson and Lee Mason have both managed 34%, Robert Madley got 38.2%.

  22. Many thanks, Usama and Walter, for this extra review. Yes, what is it that leads the PGMO to think this is preferable to a skilful game of passing football? I’ve said it before, is the British working class being offered thuggery as entertainment? Is this any different in principle from the fight to the death in the Roman arena?

    It is obvious that these players were lucky to survive this match without a serious injury.

    I am very concerned to read that Jeff is going unprotected already in the youth matches.

    @Samuel
    You’re missing the point – it’s the detail that gives the ref reviews their validity.

  23. After the fiasco of Clattenburg how in the world did he get the FA Cup and Champions League I will never know.
    As I put in the thread at the time he lost the game with Chelsea and Spurs inside the first 10mins and never got it back. The refereeing was a master class in all you should be doing but don’t. Inside the last month’s the EPL has been mentioned in the press and people are really starting to question them, I wonder why is this the reason he got both finals to take the heat of the PMGO and show the world how honest these men are and unbiased(nearly broke a rib laughing when I wrote that bit) if so I can tell you it’s not going to work. I bet he makes a pigs ear of the CL final, their are a lot of very aggressive should we say players who love a good leg breaking tackle and play dirty on both sides but more so Real Mad . It should be very interesting as he knows he will once AGAIN be under the spotlight.
    The real pity of all this is that he was onc a really good ref and football at the end of the day is the loser.

  24. I know a Spurs fan and I pointed out this article and he dreaded reading it expecting abusive comments and a heavy bias. He was impressed in the detailed report and the restrained adult comments. In this day of people sat behind keyboards acting as they feel it’s nice to read a calm adult site. He said that he reads a Tottenham blog that gets abuse for supporting their team in a positive manner. Anyone feeling despair about modern football, there is a glimmer of hope

  25. I’m surprised we are 20 comments in but haven’t had anyone round (yet) to tell us this wasn’t thuggery, but two teams ‘showing passion’ (never mind the eye-gouging) which certain teams, that shall remain nameless, lack. Passion to break legs, or maim each other, perhaps 🙂

  26. Linda

    I’m not sure Uefa keep too much track of the ref performances in other competitions. They seem to base it only on how the refs perform when in their competitions.

    Atkinson and Clattenberg are always noticeably different, for the better, in Uefa competitions.

    Clattenberg probably clinched it after handling Athletico’s home tie with PSV very well. The players and crowd tried everything to get him to give decisions their way, including a number of dives in and around the box, and he stood up to it brilliantly. So well that eventually the players stopped diving and protesting as much. It was a good example of how refs can prevent injustices and force the players to improve their conduct in a game.

    That’s probably the most galling thing of all- watching these refs perform differently in other competitions. It also hurts our claims of them being useless a fair bit.

    In fact, though, it fits, because Clattenburg, Atkinson and Dean have never struck me as incompetent refs who miss a lot- their positioning,etc is all good, and when they want to they can control players well. In fact, it might be because they have all the tools to be a good referee that these leading lights are able to damage us so badly.

    They know what they can get away with, they see almost everything, including anything which they can penalise us for at critical moments. They therefore exercise enormous control over the games they ‘manage’. There seems to have been a massive change in the way they are using the advantage rule, for instance. This gives them the power to facilitate or stop promising moves and allows them to ignore countless bookable offences. Or not. Depending on how they want to play it.

    Atkinson would almost certainly send off a player in European competition for a foul like Cahill’s on Sanchez, but then in the right circumstances he wouldn’t hesitate to do so in the premier league either.

  27. I think sending 12 players of might have sparked a full scale riot !

    Record in England is I believe 5

  28. this game was a shocker….even if the players would have got to war with guns and tanks, the ref would have looked the other way.

  29. How UEFA saw fit to appoint him to referee the Champions League final is beyond me. The only explanation i can think off is that this is his forward from Riley for finally getting in line and refereeing the English way. I really do wonder what they told him because history shows he is better than this and is one of the best referees around when not under any undue influences. They got to him which is such a shame

  30. First of all, many thanks for such a brilliant effort – by watching that thug-fest directed by Clattenburg, you have already deserved a solid pension from Tony. 🙂

    I do agree with a comment that you have missed Fabregas’ red card for doing the same thing Gabriel got away with at West Ham. Regardless of that, you did a great job.

    The CL Final will be a match between a head-butt master who is one of the best players in the world of all times and a street fighter who knows all the dirty tricks from the book as he has written it.

  31. Josif,

    Thanks, the live full match footage that I had in my DVR did not show any Fabregas’ incident as you mentioned. Just now I have seen that on twitter and yes it was also a red card missed by Clattenburg.

  32. Next year would it be possible to do a ref review for the u21s or the women’s game?

  33. Ben,

    That would be very difficult, for two reasons. 1. It would take even more time. 2. U21s or Women’s games are rarely broadcasted on TV. Even if they are broadcasted on TV in England, there are no TV channels that show those outside of England. Also the match footage of these matches are very hard to find on the net.

  34. Maybe Dembele was probably just checking out Costa’s intraocular pressure , but rather slightly crudely !

  35. SP you have an agenda.

    Being objective doesn’t necessarily mean you will find all problems.

    If one team is committing more fouls than the other, then it is more likely that you will miss more of the fouls committed by that team. This is certainly not an argument to show a lack of objectivity.

    To some people, “more than a few” and “many” just mean more than 1. I heard a completely unrelated topic on my radio a week or so ago, where the term “astronomical” was used to describe “more than 1”.

    Take the time (Walter and Usama did). Count how many incidents Walter and Usama found and categorize them. Now count up how many incidents you get, and categorize them the same way. Publish your findings.

  36. I would like to point out that we work on the live match coverage. So yes incidents not shown will not be recorded.

  37. If me recollection of the rules is of any accuracy, the match should have been abandoned in the 50th minute as Spurs would have been reduced to 6 players, and victory given to Chelsea by 3-0.

  38. Rich
    I see what you mean but UEFA should have a real close look at who they get to referee such a Final. It is so sad that a man who was once a very good referee has fallen for the party line of the PMGO..
    Spurs were a disgrace and to a lesser extent Chelsea also. Children watch these matches and what a terrible example to set.
    Clattenburg should never have been given a final of any kind if their was any sort of justice at all. That one match alone should have disqualified him immediately. UEFA need to look a lot more closely at the Leauges these men referee and at the preformance but then again it is UEFA and I would not trust them as far as I could throw them nor their pals in the corrupt FIFA.

  39. My first impression on reading that Clattenburg had been given UEFA-CL and FA Cup finals, is that he is being set up for retirement. That he will not be offered a refereeing position after the season concludes.

    No data to go on, just an impression.

  40. Interesting that PGMOL have not yet published referee appointments for this weekend’s matches. Normally, these are published on the Monday prior.

    Could they be waiting to see what happens tonight so that they cane make sure that the right officials are in place for the weekend?

  41. Norman14

    Thanks for the wake-up. Still nothing published, either at the official site, or that ZetaBoard site which often gets the data up before the official site.

    Some mention that the referee given the FA Cup final is usually put together with his team for the FA Cup in a low key game the last game of the season so that he gets a chance to better choreograph how they will “play” on Cup Final day.

    Going back to the previous weekend at Zeta Board, not a peep about Chelsea/Tottenham.

    Thinking a little more (while carrying water for some of my trees) about the Clatt getting those two high profile games, I think that pretty much guarantees that he has signed the keep your mouth shut papers. And I will suggest that his problems with the “agent” earlier this year were because he was not supposed to referee this season, and only got work because that piss head couldn’t dig up enough new goofballs to manipulate into doing his will at games.

  42. Thank you Waler and Usama for this additional report.

    It reinforces with detail and analysis the impression that most of us had as we watched the game – that the Spuds came out with the intention of fouling and intimidating Chelski from the outset – playing skillful football was only , at best, a secondary consideration.

    I blame Pochettino for setting up the Spuds to play in this ultra thug manner – with complete disregard for the rules of the game or player safety. (Let’s not forget Spurs have been kicking the daylights out of teams all season – with the connivence of the refs.)

    Chelski are very far from being angels – they are the masters of the push, pull, obstruction, distraction and when they think they can get away with it – the full blown two footed challenge. But, in this match they were clearly out thugged.

    Clattenburg very clearly lost his authority. Was he trying to help the Spuds close the gap with Leicester, was he under orders to so do, or was he incompetent or chicken scared – either way he is not fit to walk on a football field!

  43. SP…………….now you get a faint idea of what shite the Arsenal (and other teams) face each week from horribly indifferent and at time impossibly poor officiating. Here on UA, we don’t promote the idea that it is just the Arsenal that get screwed week in and week out. We firmly believe that a poor official will damage other teams as well, even the spuds, who after all deserve the same treatment that any other EPL team gets. Owasur final attitude is that such a disaster as Chelsea – Tottenham ended up being is a disgrace to Football, brings the beautiful game into disrepute AND unarguably shows that the PIGMOB are not fit for purpose. If after watching that and a few other officials’ performances for Spuds this season, you still feel that the PIGMOB is a paradigm of justice and competence, then take up officiating (if you already haven’t) and I guarantee that you’ll do better than at least half of these yobs the PIGMOB send us every week!

  44. Florian – you’re right there is a minimum limit of 7 players in a team before the Laws force the match to be abandoned (providing the national association deems different). There are association rules that award walkovers for no shows, but I don’t know how the FA do it in professional football.

  45. Wow. What a match.
    Can’t say I’m surprised at the way it was reffed. There’s the history of the ref, the history of the ref re Chelsea and the history of …. ah well.

    Ta for writing the review. It’s a classic.

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