Show Me the Video: Why FIFA Needs to Implement Instant Replay

Did anybody happen to catch the Premier League showdown between Newcastle and Arsenal? I did. And the game gave me another reason as to why FIFA needs to implement instant replay.  

The game ended in a 0-0 draw, but nonetheless was a spectacle, with both teams getting in to some heated encounters.

One of these involved Alex Song, who, following a tackle on Joey Barton, took his cleat and stomped on the back of his leg.  This should be a red card.  But the ref didn't see it.

Then, with about 15 minutes to go, Gervinho dives in the penalty box.  While he is still laying on the ground, classic troublemaker Joey Barton basically grabs and tries to pull the Ivory Coast international off of the ground.  Then most of the players get in to a scuffle, and Gervinho ends up slapping Barton.

While Barton gets off with a yellow card, Gervinho gets a red.  With both players in the scuffle, I think you have to give the same color to both players, whether it be yellow or red (by the way, it should be red).

The only explanation must be none of the officials saw Barton's attempt to pull Gervinho off of the ground.

These aren't even examples of the main reason that we need instant replay.  It's because of goals. One of the most infamous examples of this was in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  England were trailing Germany 2-1 in a huge Round of 16 matchup.  

Frank Lampard takes a shot and beats the goalkeeper high.  The ball hits the crossbar and bounces at least a yard in to the goal, then bounces back out to the keeper. And the officials don't call it a goal!

Another good example was a game on the same day between Argentina and Mexico, where Carlos Tevez scored the go-ahead goal when he was very clearly offside!

I know a lot of people say the great thing about soccer is that it's such a fast paced sport, but could we stop play for thirty seconds so the official can go see, from a good angle, that the ball was clearly in the net?

We can make up for the time missed in stoppage time.  Sepp Blatter has said he would "consider" making changes by putting goal line technology in to the beautiful game, but can anyone trust this man to do anything at all?

This has been an issue to me for a long time and the opening of the Premier League season only reminded me of it.  

Will it take someone scoring an offside goal to win the Champions League final for something to actually happen? I know people have mixed opinions on this, so please, tell me what you think.