This weekend saw some of the most hotly contested refereeing decisions of the season writes Paul Richards.
There are four main talking points which took place in the following Premier League matches;
- Burnley 2-3 Crystal Palace
- Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Sunderland
- Newcastle United 1-2 Southampton.
Let me start with the two Burnley goals. I have to say the first is always going to be a goal because unless the referee looks over the ball whilst in the quadrant every time the ball goes for a corner the player will never be caught out.
I would love to see an image of a overhead view to see if the whole ball was touching the line because what a lot of people forget is that it is not if the ball touches the line, it is if there is clear daylight between the ball and line. So basically the curve of the ball could be covering the line without it actually touching.
Let us be logical about this. Considering what the referee has to see in the area with all the jostling when a corner is taken, will he really have time to see if the ball is in the quadrant? No, not at all. Whether or not it was Phil Dowd officiating, I say that the goal was given correctly.
Now, the infamous second goal. The ball did not go out of play, end of story. However, what should of happened is this. The referee blows for the foul but instead of awarding a free kick he should do a contested drop ball between the two players as you can not award a free kick for an infringement off the pitch.
A lot of people missed the poor decision right at the end of the Newcastle versus Southampton game. Former Palace defender Jose Fonte handled inside the area and you cannot even blame the position of the referee as he was only five yards away. Fonte has his hand up, away from his body so with the ball heading toward goal, it struck him directly on the hand. A penalty should have been awarded and I am afraid it was a terribly poor decision by the official.
Finally, let us talk offside.
You know which one I am about to refer to. I think we can all agree that Spurs should have had a third goal in the game against Sunderland. I know why it was not given and why the referee did not overrule his assistant. If you get the opportunity, take a look at where Chris Foy is standing and more importantly, the direction in which he is looking.
When the ball is passed he is looking almost behind him. By the time he looks at Jan Vertonghen, he is already inside the Sunderland half so Foy does not actually see that the Belgian defender recieve the ball when he is in fact inside his own half. The blame lays completely with the misinformed assistant and Foy should have been three to five yards further back in order to see everything in front of him.
These are my views as a qualified referee on some of the officiating during last weekends action in the Premier League. It is by no means an easy job, but someone has got to do it.
I will leave you this week with one final thought from the weekend. Vincent Kompany should have been given a second yellow for a foul on Alexis Sanchez in the Arsenal win at Manchester City on Sunday.
