The Untold ref review: Udinese – Arsenal « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade
The Untold ref review: Udinese – Arsenal
By Ref reviewer 04
We got ourselves in the Group stages of the Champions League. Can the same be said of ref Olegario Benquerenca? Only one way to find out and that is to read our ref review of the game.
| Min | Type | Foul from | On | C/NC | Comment | points | weight | on |
| 4 | OFFSIDE | Walcott | C | Correct | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | GOAL | Di Natale | C | Disallowed for offside. Very clear offside | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| 11 | OTHER | Udi? | RVP | C | Trip | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | OTHER | Di Natale | Vermaelen | C | High foot | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | OTHER | Udi17 | Frimpong | NC | Trip | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | OTHER | Udi? | RVP | NC | Trip. Two fouls in seconds not given | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | OFFSIDE | Udi20 | C | Correct | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 18 | OFFSIDE | Walcott | NC | Walcott was level with the last defender | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 19 | OTHER | Jenkinson | Armero | C | Jenkinson held the striker by the shirt | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | OTHER | Udi? | Djourou | C | Push | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | OFFSIDE | Di Natale | C | Came back from offside | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 23 | OTHER | Song | Armero | C | Trip | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | OTHER | Neuton | Gervinho | C | Holding | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | OTHER | Udi? | RVP | C | Push in the back | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | OTHER | Frimpong | Badu | C | Trip | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 28 | OTHER | RVP | C | Handball | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 28 | OTHER | Frimpong | Udi20 | NC | Got the ball but with the other leg the player. Was a foul | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | OTHER | Song | Udi? | C | Could not judge so ruling on the fiel stands | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 31 | OFFSIDE | Di Natale | C | Correct | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 36 | PENALTY | Song | Badu | C | The striker lost his footing and just went to the ground without any contact | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 39 | GOAL | Di Natale | C | Correct goal | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| 43 | OTHER | Pinzi | Song | C | Trip | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 44 | OTHER | Udi? | RVP | NC | Push in the back | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 46 | OTHER | Gervinho | Isla | C | Trip | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Half time | 19 | 25 | 30 | |||||
| CORRECT | 79,17% | 83,33% | ||||||
| YELLOW | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| RED | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| PENALTY | 1 | 1 | 100,00 | |||||
| GOAL | 2 | 2 | 100,00 | |||||
| OTHER | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | 100,00 | ||||||
| OFFSIDE | 4 | 5 | 80,00 | |||||
| Second half | ||||||||
| 47 | OTHER | Gervinho | Di Natale | C | Trip | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 48 | OTHER | Isla | Sagna | C | Holding | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 49 | OTHER | Song | Pinzi | NC | Song played the ball the Udinese player dropped dead. | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 50 | OTHER | Rosicky | Neuton | C | Again comedia del arte from Udinese, the ref sees throug it | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 50 | OTHER | Armero | Jenkinson | C | Push in the back | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 50 | YELLOW | Isla | C | He kept moaning against the ref and got a yellow for his trouble. | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 51 | OTHER | C | Ref tells the players to keep their hands off each other | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 51 | OTHER | Djourou | Udi? | C | Djourou didn’t understand the message and held a defender. Correct free kick. As a ref I enjoyed this spell | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 55 | GOAL | RVP | C | Correct goal | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| 58 | PENALTY | VERMAELEN | NC | Handball given by the 5th ref behind the goal. Vermaelen had his arms next to his body and he got a push in the back. It should have been a free kick to Arsenal for a foul on Vermaelen. Szczesny makes justice happening | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 58 | YELLOW | VERMAELEN | NC | Also not correct. There was nothing deliberate about this | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 60 | Offside | Walcott | C | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 61 | OTHER | Pinzi | Song | C | Trip | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 62 | PENALTY | Udi? | Ramsey | NC | The Udinese defender first touches the ball a bit but the ball runs further and Ramsey can go further to the goal. The defender then lifts his foot and catches the ankle of Ramsey who goes down. Should have been a penalty | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 65 | OTHER | Jenkinson | udi? | C | High foot but advantage given | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 66 | OTHER | Udi? | Ramsey | C | Push | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 67 | OTHER | Badu | Sagna | C | High foot | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 69 | GOAL | Walcott | C | Correct goal | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| 72 | PENALTY | Neuton | Walcott | NC | Neuton gives Walcott an elbow on the chin. Don’t know if the 5tth official could see it as Neuton covered the action with his body. Should have been a penalty | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 72 | RED | Neuton | NC | There is only one sanction for an elbow and that is a red card | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 72 | YELLOW | Sagna | C | Sagna gets a yelllow card for protesting with the ref. Stupid | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 74 | OTHER | Benatia | Walcott | C | Kick from behind | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 74 | YELLOW | Walcott | C | Has enough of it and shows his discontent a bit too much. Understandable but not very smart | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 74 | YELLOW | Benatia | C | He also reacted a bit so another one in the book. All this from the missed elbow | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 75 | OTHER | Ramsey | C | First a holding foul | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 75 | OTHER | Rosicky | Fabbrini | C | tRIP | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 75 | YELLOW | Jenkinson | C | Kicking the ball away after the whistle | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 77 | Offside | Walcott | C | Came back from offside | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 79 | Offside | Di Natale | C | Great decision wasn’t easy | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 81 | OTHER | Badu | Song | C | Push in the back | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 82 | OTHER | Song | Fabbrini | C | Trip | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 84 | PENALTY | Udi? | C | Handball but the ball was like a pinball between two players. No intention | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| 85 | OTHER | Armero | Ramsey | C | Trip | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 89 | OTHER | Rosicky | Udi? | C | Trip | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 90 | OTHER | RVP | Udi? | C | Push | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 91 | OTHER | dJOUROU | Udi? | C | Advantage given | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 92 | OTHER | Jenkinson | Udi? | C | Advantage given | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2nd half score | ||||||||
| TOTAL | 31 | 42 | 57 | |||||
| % | CORRECT | 83,78% | 73,68% | |||||
| YELLOW | 5 | 6 | 83,33 | |||||
| RED | 0 | 1 | 0,00 | |||||
| PENALTY | 1 | 4 | 25,00 | |||||
| GOAL | 2 | 2 | 100,00 | |||||
| OTHER | 5 | 5 | 100,00 | |||||
| 13 | 18 | 72,22 | ||||||
| OFFSIDE | 3 | 3 | 100,00 | |||||
| TOTAL SCORE | ||||||||
| TOTAL | 50 | 67 | 87 | |||||
| % | CORRECT | 81,97% | 77,01% | |||||
| YELLOW | 5 | 6 | 83,33 | |||||
| RED | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| PENALTY | 2 | 5 | 40,00 | |||||
| GOAL | 4 | 4 | 100,00 | |||||
| OTHER | 5 | 5 | 100,00 | |||||
| 16 | 21 | 76,19 | ||||||
| OFFSIDE | 7 | 8 | 87,50 | |||||
| Correct calls | For Arsenal | 25 | 50,00% | |||||
| For Udinese | 25 | 50,00% | ||||||
| Total correct calls | 50 | |||||||
| Wrong calls | Against Arsenal | 9 | 90,00% | |||||
| Against Udinese | 1 | 10,00% | ||||||
| Total | 10 |
Some good things but also some less good things. I liked the way he handled the players all in all in this game. And my advice for the Arsenal players is to try to stay away from the ref as much as possible.
The penalty for Udinese. The turning point in the game. In fact it wasn’t the ref that gave it but he gave it because of the 5th or 6th ref behind the goal who made the call. The ball touched the arm of Vermaelen. But the ref should have seen that the attacker jumped in the back of Vermaelen. The ref behind the goal also should have seen it because he was not that far away from it. So a very soft penalty and even a yellow card which was ridiculous I think. Was this the arm from Platini/Busacca or the arm of Vermaelen that gave away the penalty? Time will tell I guess. Did you notice that no replays were shown from behind the goal? And in those replays the foul on Vermaelen would become very clear. Ah this will be a coincidence I guess.
Add to this the fact that whatever Udinese did it wouldn’t result in a penalty and you might wonder about some things.
When it came to correct calls the ref was very good. And I think it is the first time a ref has a 50/50 score on this. But with the wrong calls… o dear we surely did not get the benefit of the doubt from this ref.
But it didn’t matter at the end as we won the game and got ourselves once again the group stages of the CL. Oh and with this score the ref will also be in the Champions League. That is if Busacca and Platini still want him there after last night.