So it’s in view of this that I say a big congrats to ref Anthony Taylor for refusing to be conned into awarding a dubious penalty to Chelsea when Cesc Fabregas fell in a heap in Soton’s penalty box.
To be honest, my first reaction in real live action was that the Spanish midfielder had been fouled. But on seeing the replay, I totally agree with Mr Taylor that the Chelsea player unfairly sought contact in the box by delibrately dragging his trailing foot to make contact with the stationary legs of Soton defender, hence the mandatory yellow card for the Blues player to the chagring of Jose Mourinho.
Also Jonathan Moss (not one of my favourite refs, though) and his assistants deserve praise for correctly overruling what should have been a Man United opener by Jones against Spurs. Jones came from an offside position to nod the ball home, and Radamel Falcao appeared to foul a Spurs defender as the header sailed home. So there were two infringements of the Laws of the Game in the build-up to the disallowed goal.
But while I give kudos to Taylor and Moss for their rare eagle eyes, I have no such praise for Kevin Friend and his assistants who failed to disallow Burnley’s first goal against Man City. Of course, City have themselves to blame for squandering a two-goal lead against hapless opponents.
However, that cannot excuse the off-side goal scored by George Boyd. Even if he didn’t make contact with the ball, the Burnley player distracted goalkeeper Joe Hart from an offside position and as such, the goal should not have stood.
And I’m impressed with Manuel Pellegrini’s civilized response to Friend’s error: “It is a big opportunity to get two more points.
“At half-time everybody would think the game was over but I always say it is never over until the last minute. Burnley’s first goal was a MISTAKE (emphasis mine) by the referee but once it goes to 2-2 we didn’t have the legs to score.
“We were at home. That is an advantage but Chelsea and Manchester United also drew.”
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