Ref Review: West Ham – Arsenal: an even bias score, miracles do happen

WEST HAM UNITED vs. ARSENAL

  • COMPETITION: English Premier League
  • MATCH NO. 14
  • DATE: 3rd December 2016
  • VENUE: London Stadium (London, England)

MATCH OFFICIALS:

REFEREE: Craig Pawson
1st LINESMAN: Harry Lennard
2nd LINESMAN: Ian Hussin
4th OFFICIAL: Lee Mason

First Half

Fouls, Advantages, Cards, and Penalties

Time Foul by Foul For Description & Decision Points
03:38 Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (Arsenal) Edimilson Fernandes (West Ham) Chamberlain tripped Fernandes from behind.

CORRECT FOUL FOR WEST HAM.

1 (FOUL)
07:12 Francis Coquelin (Arsenal) Alvaro Arbeloa (West Ham) Coquelin tripped Arbeloa from behind.

CORRECT FOUL FOR WEST HAM.

1 (FOUL)
07:36 Pedro Obiang (West Ham) Francis Coquelin (Arsenal) Obiang tripped Coquelin from front.

CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL.

1 (FOUL)
09:59 Edimilson Fernandes (West Ham) Nacho Monreal (Arsenal) Fernandes came from the front and used his arms to shove Monreal from the side of the face.

 

This also should have been a yellow card against Fernandes for committing reckless play but no yellow card was given.

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST FERNANDES.

1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

10:23 Ashley Fletcher (West Ham) Laurent Koscienly (Arsenal) Fletcher pushed Koscienly in the air.

CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL.

1 (FOUL)
20:16 Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) Dimitri Payet (West Ham) Xhaka mistimed his tackle and stepped on the foot of Payet. This should have been a foul for West Ham but was not given.

 

But this also should have been a yellow card against Xhaka for being reckless in his tackle. But no card was given.

 

NO FOUL FOR WEST HAM.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST XHAKA.

-1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

21:32 Dimitri Payet (West Ham) Francis Coquelin (Arsenal) Coquelin cleared the ball when Payet mistimed his tackle with a bended leg similar to Xhaka and stepped on Coquelin’s foot.

 

This should have been a yellow card against Payet for being reckless in his tackle but no card was shown.

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST PAYET.

1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

22:14 Ashley Fletcher (West Ham) Fletcher used his hand to control the ball.

CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL.

1 (FOUL)
28:49 Winston Reid (West Ham) Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (Arsenal) Reid tripped Chamberlain from behind.

CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL.

1 (FOUL)
29:55 Francis Coquelin (Arsenal) West Ham got throw-in inside their half, when Coquelin kicked the away from the West Ham players in to the crowd. Deliberate attempt to delay play.

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST COQUELIN.

2 (YELLOW CARD)
33:30 Ashley Fletcher (West Ham) Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal) Fletcher tripped Mustafi from behind, but Arsenal kept possession.

CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR ARSENAL.

1 (ADVANTAGE)
34:33 Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal) Ashley Fletcher (West Ham) Mustafi charged in to Fletcher from behind.

CORRECT FOUL FOR WEST HAM.

1 (FOUL)

 

40:14 Alvaro Arbeloa (West Ham) Francis Coquelin (Arsenal) Arbeloa came in from behind and tripped Coquelin in a reckless manner.

 

This should have been a yellow card against Arbeloa for kicking Coquelin from behind in a reckless manner.

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST ARBELOA.

1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

42:27 Francis Coquelin (Arsenal) Pedro Obiang (West Ham) Coquelin tripped Obiang from behind.

CORRECT FOUL FOR WEST HAM.

1 (FOUL)
   
Number of Correct Fouls for Arsenal – 7

Number of Correct Fouls for West Ham – 4

Total Number of Correct Fouls – 11 [11 points]

 

Number of Incorrect Fouls against Arsenal – 0

Number of Incorrect Fouls against West Ham – 1

Total Number of Incorrect Fouls – 1 [1 points]

 

Number of Correct Advantages for Arsenal – 1

Number of Correct Advantages for West Ham – 0

Total Number of Correct Advantages – 1 [1 points]

 

Number of Incorrect Advantages against Arsenal – 0

Number of Incorrect Advantages against West Ham – 0

Total Number of Incorrect Advantages – 0

Number of Correct Yellow Cards for Arsenal – 0

Number of Correct Yellow Cards for West Ham – 1

Total Number of Correct Yellow Cards –  1 [2 points]

Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against Arsenal – 3

Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against West Ham – 1

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

 

 

Offsides

Time Player Offside Defending Player Description & Decision Points
23:06 Theo Walcott (Arsenal) Arthur Masuaku (West Ham) Walcott was in an offside position. Assistant Referee Ian Hussin made the correct call.

CORRECT OFFSIDE FOR WEST HAM.

1 (OFFSIDE)
32:03 Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) Alvaro Arbeloa (West Ham) Sanchez was in an offside position. Assistant Referee Ian Hussin made the correct call.

CORRECT OFFSIDE FOR WEST HAM.

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

Number of Correct Offsides for West Ham – 2

Total Number of Correct Offsides – 2 [2 points]

Number of Incorrect Offsides against Arsenal – 0

Number of Incorrect Offsides against West Ham –  0

Total Number of Incorrect Offsides – 0

Goals

Time Goal Scorer Description & Decision Points
23:34 Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) Clean goal.

CORRECT GOAL FOR ARSENAL.

3 (GOAL)
Number of Correct Goals for Arsenal – 1

Number of Correct Goals for West Ham – 0

Total Number of Correct Goals – 1 [3 points]

Number of Incorrect Goals against Arsenal – 0

Number of Incorrect Goals against West Ham – 0

Total Number of Incorrect Goals – 0

Goal Kicks, Corners, and Throw-ins

Time Type Last Touch OFF Description & Decision

Other

Time Type Description & Decision Points

First Half Referee Report

Total Number of Correct Decisions for Arsenal – 7+1+1 = 9

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

Total Number of Correct Decisions = 9 + 7 = 16

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Arsenal – 7+1+3 = 11

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for West Ham – 4+2+2 = 8

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) = 11 + 8 = 19

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Arsenal – 3

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against West Ham – 1+1 =2

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions = 3 + 2 = 5

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Arsenal – 6

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against West Ham – 1+2 = 3

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) = 6 + 3 = 9

 

 

 

First Half Correct Decision Percentage = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 16/(16+5) = 76.1%

 

 

First Half Correct Decision Percentage (WEIGHTED) = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 19/(19+9) = 67.8%

 

Second Half

Fouls, Advantages, Cards, and Penalties

Time Foul by Foul For Description & Decision Points
47:42 Arthur Masuaku (West Ham) Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (Arsenal) Masuaku’s early attempt to tackle the ball brought down Chamberlain from the side.

CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL.

1 (FOUL)
50:36 Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) Arthur Masuaku (West Ham) Xhaka tripped Masuaku from the side with a standing tackle.

CORRECT FOUL FOR WEST HAM.

1 (FOUL)
57:57 Ashley Fletcher (West Ham) Laurent Koscienly (Arsenal) Fletcher tried to control the ball on the stretch but stepped on Koscienly’s foot after making the slightest of contact on the ball.

 

This should have been a yellow card against Fletcher for being reckless in his challenge. But no card was given.

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL.

NO YELLOW CARD AGAINST FLETCHER.

1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

63:50 Winston Reid (West Ham) Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) Reid went charging in from behind in to Sanchez to stop possible counter attack. Referee played an advantage correctly as Arsenal maintained possession.

CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR ARSENAL.

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST REID.

1 (ADVANTAGE)

2 (YELLOW CARD)

66:18 Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) Andre Ayew (West Ham) Xhaka tried to pull Ayew by the arm.

CORRECT FOUL FOR WEST HAM.

1 (FOUL)
66:42 Laurent Koscienly (Arsenal) Ashley Fletcher (West Ham) Koscienly stopped Fletcher using his head in the forward direction. The foul was correctly given.

 

But this should not have been a yellow card against Koscienly, as there was no recklessness or high impact contact on Fletcher, or even an promising attack.

 

CORRECT FOUL FOR WEST HAM.

WRONG YELLOW CARD AGAINST KOSCIENLY.

1 (FOUL)

-2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

68:46 Andre Ayew (West Ham) Gabriel Paulista (Arsenal) Ayew jumped in to Gabriel from the side.

CORRECT FOUL FOR ARSENAL.

1 (FOUL)
69:58 Nacho Monreal (Arsenal) Andre Ayew (West Ham) Monreal tripped Ayew from behind.

CORRECT FOUL FOR WEST HAM.

1 (FOUL)
80:59 Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal) Andre Ayew (West Ham) Mustafi looks to have played the ball or tripped Ayew with his tackle, the angle of the replay shows nothing conclusive. Benefit of the doubt is given to referee for both decisions.

CORRECT FOUL FOR WEST HAM.

CORRECT YELLOW CARD AGAINST MUSTAFI.

1 (FOUL)

2 (YELLOW CARD)

 

92:20 Alvaro Arbeloa (West Ham) Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (Arsenal) Arbeloa tripped Chamberlain but Arsenal maintained possession.

CORRECT ADVANTAGE PLAYED FOR ARSENAL.

1 (ADVANTAGE)
   
Number of Correct Fouls for Arsenal – 3

Number of Correct Fouls for West Ham – 5

Total Number of Correct Fouls – 8 [8 points]

 

Number of Incorrect Fouls against Arsenal – 0

Number of Incorrect Fouls against West Ham – 0

Total Number of Incorrect Fouls – 0

 

Number of Correct Advantages for Arsenal – 2

Number of Correct Advantages for West Ham – 0

Total Number of Correct Advantages – 2 [2 points]

 

Number of Incorrect Advantages against Arsenal – 0

Number of Incorrect Advantages against West Ham – 0

Total Number of Incorrect Advantages – 0

Number of Correct Yellow Cards for Arsenal – 1

Number of Correct Yellow Cards for West Ham – 1

Total Number of Correct Yellow Cards – 2 [4 points]

Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against Arsenal – 2

Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards against West Ham – 0

Total Number of Incorrect Yellow Cards – 2 [4 points]

 

Offsides

Time Player Offside Defending Player Description & Decision Points
85:41 Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) Winston Reid (West Ham) Sanchez was in an offside position. Assistant Referee Harry Lennard failed to make the correct call.

NO OFFSIDE FOR WEST HAM.

-1 (OFFSIDE)
Number of Correct Offsides for Arsenal – 0

Number of Correct Offsides for West Ham – 0

Total Number of Correct Offsides – 0

Number of Incorrect Offsides against Arsenal – 0

Number of Incorrect Offsides against West Ham –  1

Total Number of Incorrect Offsides –  1 [1 points]

Goals

Time Goal Scorer Description & Decision Points
71:18 Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) Clean goal.

CORRECT GOAL FOR ARSENAL.

3 (GOAL)
79:51 Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) Clean goal.

CORRECT GOAL FOR ARSENAL.

3 (GOAL)
82:11 Andy Carroll (West Ham) Clean goal.

CORRECT GOAL FOR WEST HAM.

3 (GOAL)
83:37 Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (Arsenal) Clean goal.

CORRECT GOAL FOR ARSENAL.

3 (GOAL)
85:47 Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) Sanchez was in an offside position when he received the pass.

WRONG GOAL AGAINST WEST HAM.

-3 (GOAL)
Number of Correct Goals for Arsenal – 3

Number of Correct Goals for West Ham – 1

Total Number of Correct Goals – 4 [12 points]

Number of Incorrect Goals against Arsenal – 0

Number of Incorrect Goals against West Ham – 1

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

Second Half Referee Report

Total Number of Correct Decisions for Arsenal – 3+2+1+3 = 9

Total Number of Correct Decisions for West Ham – 5+1+1 = 7

Total Number of Correct Decisions = 9 + 7 = 16

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Arsenal – 3+2+2+9 = 16

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for West Ham – 5+2+3 = 10

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) = 16 + 10 = 26

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Arsenal – 2

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against West Ham – 1+1 =2

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions = 2 + 2 = 4

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Arsenal – 4

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against West Ham – 1+3 = 4

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) = 4 + 4 = 8

 

 

 

Second Half Correct Decision Percentage = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 16/(16+4) = 80.0%

 

 

Second Half Correct Decision Percentage (WEIGHTED) = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 26/(26+8) = 76.4%

 

 

 

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

Total Number of Correct Decisions for Arsenal – 9+9 = 18

Total Number of Correct Decisions for West Ham – 7+7 = 14

Total Number of Correct Decisions = 18 + 14 = 32

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for Arsenal – 11+16 = 27

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) for West Ham – 8+10 = 18

Total Number of Correct Decisions (Weighted) = 27 + 18 = 45

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against Arsenal – 3+2 = 5

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions against West Ham – 2+2 =4

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions = 5 + 4 = 9

 

AFTER POINTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED

 

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against Arsenal – 6+4 = 10

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) against West Ham – 3+4 = 7

Total Number of Incorrect Decisions (Weighted) = 10 + 7 = 17

 

 

 

Full Match Correct Decision Percentage = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 32/(32+9) = 78.0%

 

 

Full Match Correct Decision Percentage (WEIGHTED) = Total Correct Decisions / Total Decisions (Correct + Incorrect) = 45/(45+17) = 72.5%

 

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.

NOTE: All the Laws Of The Game used are referenced directly from the following link. “LAWS OF THE GAME 2016-2017”

http://static-3eb8.kxcdn.com/documents/60/Laws%20of%20the%20Game_16-17_Digital_Eng.pdf

Craig Pawson was the ref in this match.

Some good early foul calling against both sides from the start of the match. The only mistake in the first 10 minutes was to not hand a yellow card when Fernandes pushed his hands against the face of Monreal.

But on the other hand Xhaka also escaped a yellow card when he stepped on the foot of Payet some 10 minutes later.  Payet then thinking oh I can do the same and he did and he also escaped a yellow card when he landed on Coquelin his foot. The tackle from Payet was more dangerous as he came in from a distance contrary to Xhaka who just was conned by the trick of Payet.  Arbeloa finished off the first half with a mistimed tackle on Coquelin and again the yellow card was not given.

That lead to a first half score of 76.1% and 67.8% (Weighted) Slightly good. Missing the yellow cards costing him.

In the second half the ref continued to do his job in a decent way. But the same flaws could be seen. Fletcher landing on the foot of Koscielny should have seen him getting a yellow card. But not given. A bit later Koscielny blocked Fletcher with his head against the shoulder and then Koscielny got booked for it. That was rather odd as there was not much on around the half way line and the foul was not a dangerous one or using excessive force.

A good moment for me was the advantage played when Reid fouled Alexis from behind and after the attack had finished the ref gave him the yellow card. That was how it should be done.

A bad moment was when Arsenal scored their 5th goal in the match. Alexis was offside and it was remarkable that the assistant didn’t see it. That is not a foul from the ref but the rules are the rules and it goes down in his report.

As a result the score for the second half was 80.0% and 76.4% (Weighted) Very Good.

The overall over the 90 minutes was 78.0% and 72.5% (Weighted) Good.

There was only wrong major decision and that was the last goal that Arsenal scored, which was offside.

Even though the ref had a good game, but there was one thing which was very clear (which has been the story of nearly every Arsenal game this season) and it was the quickness to show an Arsenal player a yellow card and the absolute unwillingness to show the opposition’s player a yellow card.

But the highlight for me when looking at the numbers was the bias numbers. He made 9 errors. And 5 of those were against Arsenal and 4 against West Ham United. Up to the wrongly given Alexis goal (the 5th when the match was already played) he was making smaller mistakes (that can have a big influence of course as it was about yellow cards) and rather even for both teams. His foul calling was also good.

And most importantly he looked rather fair and unbiased. A welcome breath of fresh air….

Tales from Untold 

Wenger ponders whether Yaya Sanogo will ever really be good enough for Arsenal. 

 

Football journalism has become a walled wonderland inherently incompatible with reality

All the Arsenal transfers you might have missed and some that may yet happen

The video ref in action: a practical example of video refereeing in the Club World Cup

It’s not the defeat that counts, it’s what happens next

Everton – Arsenal : 2-1 time to start a new run

7 Replies to “Ref Review: West Ham – Arsenal: an even bias score, miracles do happen”

  1. Thanks for that.
    Fair and unbiased….really dont see many of these. Riley will have to bring him in for re-education

  2. In the news, I found an article about a referee and a game in the Championship. In the article, we find:

    > As Mr Martin (the referee) wrongly sent off two Newcastle players, disallowed a goal and wrongly waved away what should have been a United penalty, fans took to Twitter to vent their spleen, many of them mistakenly blaming Mr Martin (the comic actor).

    The referee is Stephen Martin, and people have confused him with Steve Martin (actor/comic). But, would you find a paragraph like that one, about a Premier League referee?

    The article is

    http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/business/business-news/stephen-martin-could-best-referee-12328670

    November

    I think Tony is assigning the cause of a November effect, if real, to Arsenal playing stiff competition in that time frame. The beginning of November is 61 days before the last day of the year (365 or 366 in a leap year). I think this period is about 6 weeks, and runs from high 290’s or 300 to mid December, or about Day 342 or so.

    Arsene did not start until a couple of games into the 1996 season. But, I have that season, where I am averaging over 6 games. If a team plays as many high placed teams as low placed teams in an interval, you kind of expect the average placing of our competition to be about 10.5. Oh, this is all competitions, so we play teams from other countries, or other leagues, and we may not have data for their place in the previous season. But if we don’t have some information (also true for newly promoted teams), we just don’t divide the sum of finishing ranks by 6. It will be some number less than 6. The day number doesn’t necessarioly correspond to a day we played on.

    242 7
    247 8.25
    252 10.5
    257 10.5
    261 10.3
    267 11.3
    274 12.5
    280 11.7
    286 12
    292 12.5
    300 12.5
    306 11
    312 9
    317 7.8
    323 5.6
    329 6.2
    333 6.2
    338 7.8
    344 9.2
    349 9.4
    354 11.4
    359 10
    365 10
    369 10.3
    373 7.3
    379 9.3
    384 9.7
    389 10.5
    395 10
    401 8.5
    407 9.8
    412 9.2
    418 8.5
    424 9.2
    430 8.3
    438 10
    446 9.2
    454 9.4
    461 10.8
    469 7.8
    477 9

    Ignoring our 300-342 interval, plus 2 games to either side, I get 29 values with an average of 9.7. Which is reasonably close to 10.5. Inside our interval, we have 7 values with an average of 7.7. And I think I am ignoring 5 or 6 points, not assigned to either in or out of interval.

    Significant?

    Are the ranks I am using, meaningful? I am using the standing of the team in the previous season. The promoted teams get a rank of 21 I believe. If we play a team in FA or League Cup, for which I have standing information, I use it.

    On the first game of the season, using the rank from the previous season makes a fair amount of sense. On the last game of the season, it makes very little sense. Obviously, we should use rank at point in season. But, weather and industrial action often cause the number of games played by teams before a specific game to be different. Which is a problem.

    But on the other hand, the schedule was devised with only the previous season rankings available. The only legitimate reason to move a game after the schedule is announced, is to move it a few hours (maybe24) for television reasons.

    In any event, I am still playing November here. And the weather here is -20 with a slight wind. For early next week, we are supposed to get close to freezing. Oh goody! 🙂

  3. Oh, I believe in Irish rugby, a female referee was officiating a mens game. One of the men (probably accidentally, I’m sure) hit the referee from behind with a no arms tackle. This sent her to the hospital for whiplash. The player has been given 3 YEARS suspension.

    When that happened in the NHL (ice hockey) a year or two ago, a meaningless suspension.

    Same old reasons. He is such a nice boy, he would never do anything like that intentionally. On Sundays when he isn’t playing, he lies across puddles so that elder couples going to church don’t have to step in the water. Blah, blah, blah.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *