EPL: The 8 Refereeing Decisions That Changed the Course of the Title Race
FIFA’s reluctance to accept goal line technology has resulted in one thing: poor and dubious calls by the referees.
After all, referees are human and they are bound to make mistakes. This season, just like several others, have seen a number of dubious calls.
Right now Manchester United and Arsenal are leading the rest of the pack and it looks like it will be a two horse race for the English Premier League.
In this article I will be looking back at some of the highly debated and controversial refereeing decisions.
Please note that I’m not stating that all these decisions were wrong, but there was an element of doubt in them, and most of them are highly debatable.
These decisions, if they had gone the other way, could have changed the course of the title race. So here is a look at eight refereeing decisions that went either for or against United or Arsenal.
Arsenal vs Birmingham
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Referee- Martin Atkinson
In the 41st minute of Arsenal’s clash against Birmingham City, Marouane Chamakh was adjudged to have been brought down by Scott Dann in the Birmingham box and Arsenal were awarded a penalty. At that point Arsenal were trailing 1-0.
Replays suggested that there was minimal contact and there were accusations that Chamakh had dived to earn the penalty. The Birmingham players were livid and incensed at the incident. The goal provided Arsenal with the impetus and they went onto win the clash 2-1.
Even if there was contact it seemed minimal.
Chamakh would go onto score the winner two minutes into the second half.
During the build up to the second goal, it was evident that Birmingham’s Stephen Carr was afraid to challenge Marouane Chamakh as he pulled out of the challenge most probably following the incident that led to the penalty.
If Arsenal had not earned that penalty, it might have been a different story, as Arsenal were missing several key players in van Persie and Fabregas.
Another controversial moment in the game was when Emmanuel Eboue went in with both legs and challenged a Birmingham player. Many felt it deserved a red but Eboue walked away with a yellow card.
Arsenal vs Bolton
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Referee- Stuart Attwell
In the 64th minute of the Bolton vs Arsenal clash, Gary Cahill was given a straight red card during a counter attack and Bolton were reduced to 10 men.
At this point, Arsenal were leading 2-1 and they would go onto win the match 4-1, adding a certain gloss to the score which failed to show the quality that Bolton had possessed.
Bolton manager, Owen Coyle and the players were furious, and their anger stemmed from two reasons.
One thing was that the red card was extremely harsh and it deserved a yellow card at the most.
Secondly, the Arsenal attack started when Alex Song dispossessed a Bolton player on the edge of the Arsenal box. It was evident that Song had fouled the player and it was Bolton who should have got a free kick in a promising situation.
Up until that point it had been a very evenly contested match with Bolton playing good football and they threatened the Arsenal goal.
Had Gary Cahill not been sent off, Bolton did have a chance of grabbing an equalizer and they might have resulted in Arsenal dropping points.
Arsenal vs Wigan
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Referee- Lee Probert
Arsenal had just defeated the defending champions Chelsea 3-1 a few days back when they took on Wigan Athletic.
But Wigan brought Arsenal back to earth with a 2-2 draw at the DW Stadium thanks to a couple of key decisions that went against Arsenal.
The first incident was in the 17th minute when Laurent Koscielny was adjudged to have tripped Charles N’Zogbia in the box and Wigan were awarded a penalty.
Ben Watson promptly converted it to give Wigan a surprising lead.
Though Koscielny flicked out a foot, he was withdrawing it by the time the midfielder went past him. Replays cast doubt there was contact but referee Lee Probert pointed to the spot. It seemed harsh on Arsenal and there was only minimal contact.
The second incident was in the 85th minute when Samir Nasri’s free kick was handled by the raised hands of a Wigan defender. The referee waved play on but the hand ball was reminiscent to Fabregas’ handball against Tottenham and in that case a penalty was awarded to Tottenham.
Had these two decisions gone the way of Arsenal, it is most likely that Arsenal would have won the match and increased the pressure on Manchester United.
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Arsenal vs Newcastle
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Referee- Phil Dowd
Many call it the greatest comeback in Premier League history. Sure, it was a great comeback but there is no denying that there were several dubious calls in the match, many that went against the Gunners.
Arsenal were leading 4-0 at halftime but they threw it away and allowed Newcastle to draw the game and had referee Phil Dowd made the right decisions, the result would have been much different.
He made several mistakes throughout the course of the game that ultimately cost Arsenal all three points.
First of all, he should have sent off Joey Barton for a challenge on Arshavin in the first half.
In the second half, Abou Diaby was sent off after he reacted violently to a reckless Barton challenge. He was right in sending Diaby off for shoving his opponents but he should have also sent Barton off.
Then he gives Newcastle a soft penalty which could be justified and Barton scores.
When Szczesny holds onto the ball, Nolan wrestles him off the ball very similar to what Diaby did. What does Dowd do? He gives both Nolan only a yellow and also for some reason gives Szczesny a yellow card.
But the worst of the lot came in the 82nd minute when he awarded Newcastle a penalty when there was no contact what so ever.
Arsenal too must take blame for that shocking implosion, but had Dowd made the right decisions, Arsenal could have walked out with all three points.
Manchester United vs Chelsea
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Referee- Martin Atkinson
Following this game, referee, Martin Atkinson came under severe criticism from Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson who went onto question the integrity of the referee.
Alex Ferguson felt that his side was unlucky to lose and they did not deserve to lose. There were a number of big calls that are highly debatable.
The first call was in the fifth minute when Manchester United believed that they should have got a penalty. Atkinson waved away all the claims.
Another point of controversy was over the fact that Sir Alex Ferguson believed that David Luiz should have been sent off, and in all honesty, Luiz was extremely fortunate not to be sent off.
Chelsea’s newest acquisition got into three terrible tangles in one-on-one situations and showed there is a dark side to his game.
He was reprieved for body-checking Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney and also scything down the Englishman, although he was eventually booked for another challenge on Hernandez.
Despite all the fouls, he was brilliant on the night and had he been sent off, Chelsea would have definitely struggled.
But the real point of debate was surrounding Chelsea’s winner.
Manchester United claim that Zhirkov "bought the foul" and took the opportunity to go over Smalling's outstretched leg. There seemed to be minimal contact.
Atkinson’s decisions might have been right but it is still debatable. Had the decisions been differently, the result might have helped United extend their lead at the top of the table.
Manchester United vs Birmingham
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Referee- Lee Mason
This match took place a night before Arsenal’s 2-2 draw against Wigan. Manchester United drew 1-1 with Birmingham after Birmingham equalized in the 90th minute thanks to a controversial goal from Lee Bowyer.
Manchester United took the lead thanks to a Dimitar Berbatov striker and they seemed to be on their way to another three points when a controversial Bowyer striker leveled matters.
A long-ball from Johnson bounced off the arm of replacement Nikola Zigic and the ex-Leeds United midfielder placed his shot past Van der Sar despite the Dutchman's protestations.
Sir Alex Ferguson and the players were livid, and rightfully so.
The ball had taken a deflection off Zigic’s arm before falling kindly to Bowyer and they believed that the goal should never have stood.
During the same week, both Arsenal and Manchester United were victims of poor refereeing and both teams ended up dropping two points.
Manchester United vs Blackpool
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Referee- Peter Walton
Some decisions do go against Manchester United every time but in most cases Manchester United benefit from these poor decisions. It was no different against newly promoted Blackpool as Manchester United came back from two goals down to win 3-2.
Blackpool took the lead thanks to Cathcart and it was extended by DJ Campbell. During the second half, Blackpool were denied what looked a clear penalty.
Luke Varney was bundled over by Rafael Da Silva after being released by Charlie Adam’s delightful pass. It looked like a clear penalty but Peter Walton thought otherwise and play was continued.
Had the penalty been awarded, Blackpool had a great chance to go 3-0 up and effectively kill Manchester United off. Not only would it have been very difficult for United to comeback, but it would have finished them mentally too.
Had the penalty been given, Manchester United would have got a draw at the most and would have definitely dropped points.
Manchester United vs West Brom
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Referee- Chris Foy
Another major decision that went United’s way. Manchester United would go onto win this clash 2-1 thanks to goals from Wayne Rooney and Hernandez.
Wayne Rooney scored to give United the lead before James Morrison equalized with a wonder strike.
Then came the moment of controversy as Gary Neville made a last man challenge on Dorrans and clearly got everything other than the ball.
It should have been a clear penalty and Neville should have been issued his marching orders. It was clear to everyone seeing the game except the referee, and United would go on to win the match.
It was a truly shocking decision by the referee, Chris Foy.
In the end Hernandez would score the winner. The reality was that United were lucky to win and play the majority of the match with 11 men.
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