World Football: Pathetic Refereeing Destroying the Game As Arsenal Screwed Again

On Saturday, Arsenal threw away a comfortable lead to draw 4-4 with Newcastle United. It will go down in history as one of the greatest comebacks of all time.

In the first half, Arsenal totally dominated the Magpies and were cruising to victory. But following Abou Diaby’s 52^nd minute sending off and Djourou’s injury Arsenal imploded and went onto draw a match they should have won with consummate ease.

Although Arsenal should never throw away such comfortable leads, the referee on the night Phil Dowd did nothing to help their cause. He, along with the linesman, had a shocker of a game that was filled with ridiculous calls and pathetic decision-making.

The first incident was in the first half when Dowd should have sent off Barton for a foul against Arshavin. At that point it looked like it would have no consequence on the outcome as Arsenal were cruising.

Then in the 52^nd minute, Barton went into a reckless challenge on Diaby. Had Diaby been a bit smarter he could have got Barton sent off. Instead, he reacted violently and pushed both Nolan and Barton.

I’m not supporting or justifying Diaby’s actions, but considering the amount of injuries he has been hit with recently, it was understandable. But the sending off was justified and called for. But what Dowd should have done was send Barton also off. His tackle was extremely reckless and could have easily got Diaby injured once again.

The second incident was following Newcastle’s first goal. Barton had just scored a penalty. Szczesny picked up the ball from the net and Nolan tried to get the ball away from him.

In the process, Nolan wrestled Szczesny to the ground. It was similar to what Diaby had done yet all that happened was Nolan and shockingly even Szczesny got a yellow card.

Based on the Diaby incident, even Nolan should have got sent off. But that never happened. This happened right in front of the linesman.

The next one was a real howler. I’m still wondering why Dowd gave Newcastle their second penalty. There seemed to be no contact whatsoever and yet he penalized Koscielny for an imaginary foul and gave Newcastle scored their third.

Dowd should have been smoking something because that was not even a foul, let alone a penalty. Yet this genius gives a penalty.

All this incidents resulted in Newcastle drawing the game 4-4. Dowd should have sent off two Newcastle players and they should never have given the penalty.

Had all this taken place Arsenal would have surely won the game and would be now just a mere two points behind Manchester United.

Dowd was not the only reason for Arsenal’s defeat. Arsenal’s players should accept responsibility, but Dowd was an absolute disgrace and made mistakes constantly.

The Premier League is one of the world’s best leagues and is a highly competitive one. But referees like Phil Dowd are an absolute disgrace to the game and the League.

Had it not been for him, Arsenal would be now two points behind leaders Manchester United and would have taken a major boost to their title ambitions.

But this is not the first time that Arsenal have suffered from stupid decisions. Arsenal were denied a penalty against Wigan that would have given them all three points. Arsenal were penalized for a similar incident against Tottenham Hotspur.

In the match against Sunderland, Alex Song was harshly sent off after picking up two yellow cards. The referee on that night?  None other than Phil Dowd.

Against Everton Louis Saha was yards offside and Everton’s goals should never have stood, yet the goal was given.

Howard Webb, another one of Premier League’s useless referees, gave Manchester United a penalty against Arsenal when none was there to be given.

Dowd and Webb consistently make ridiculous calls and both have often cost games to several sides.

They are sadly not the only persons who make stupid calls. Several other referees make crazy decisions.

There is a huge inconsistency in the refereeing which is resulting in several teams dropping points.

Such decisions not only ruin the game but ruin the entire league. Now is the right time for FA to interfere and ensure that referees uphold certain high standards.

This article along with others is also available on my blog: Sportsbuzz.