Untold Ref Review: Chelsea 3 – 3 Manchester United « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager
Below is the ref review of the Chelsea v. Man Utd match in which Howard Webb awarded United two controversial second half penalties enabling them to claw back from a 3-0 deficit to split the spoils with a 3-3 scoreline.
| MATCH REVIEW DETAILS – Howard Webb (2012-02-05) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | ||||||
| Min | Type | Foul from | On | C/NC | Comment | Weight |
| 1 | OTHER | Bosingwa | Valencia | C | Foul ? assumed correct | 1 |
| 1 | OTHER | Essien | Evra | C | Trip | 1 |
| 3 | OTHER | Evans | Torres | NC | Held ? not given | 1 |
| 4 | OTHER | Torres | Evans | C | Trip | 1 |
| 9 | PENALTY | C | Bosingwa did grab Young’s jersey, but Young threw himself to ground unnaturally ? no call probably best decision | 3 | ||
| 9 | OTHER | Young | C | Handled ball after diving to ground | 1 | |
| 11 | OTHER | Cahill | Welbeck | NC | Trip at edge of area ? not given | 1 |
| 11 | PENALTY | C | Trip occurred outside penalty area | 3 | ||
| 11 | YELLOW | Cahill | NC | Cahill tried to play ball but tripped Welbeck ? should have been booked | 2 | |
| 12 | OFFSIDE | Welbeck | C | Assumed correct | 1 | |
| 14 | OTHER | Young | Ivanovic | C | Tackle from behind ? might have been booked, gets verbal warning | 1 |
| 16 | OTHER | Valencia | Essien | NC | Extends his studs dangerously to try to block clearance | 1 |
| 18 | OTHER | Young | Torres | C | Pulled him down | 1 |
| 19 | OTHER | Torres | Evra | C | Stepped on his foot from behind | 1 |
| 21 | OTHER | Malouda | Rafael | NC | Push ? not given | 1 |
| 22 | OTHER | Malouda | Welbeck | NC | Trip ? not given | 1 |
| 23 | OTHER | Bosingwa | Rafael | C | Pulled him back | 1 |
| 24 | OTHER | Rafael | Malouda | C | Trip | 0 |
| 25 | OTHER | Evra | Mata | C | Tripped from behind | 1 |
| 26 | OTHER | Essien | Welbeck | NC | Blocked Welbeck from joining in counter-attack | 1 |
| 26 | YELLOW | Essien | NC | Should have been booked ? unsporting behaviour | 2 | |
| 26 | OFFSIDE | Young | C | 1 | ||
| 27 | OTHER | Malouda | Rafael | C | Trip | 1 |
| 28 | OTHER | Torres | Evans | C | Evans stopped short, Torres ran into back of him | 1 |
| 28 | YELLOW | Torres | NC | A foul, but not worth a booking | 2 | |
| 33 | OTHER | Ivanovic | Rooney | C | Rooney flopped to ground under little contact, but I’ll give ref benefit of doubt | 1 |
| 34 | OTHER | Evra | Mata | C | Foul | 1 |
| 36 | GOAL | C | Johnny Evans own goal ? goal okay | 3 | ||
| 43 | OTHER | Carrick | Essien | C | Obstruction ? advantage played | 1 |
| 44 | OTHER | Luiz | Rooney | NC | Pushed Rooney wide so not able to play ball | 1 |
| 44 | OTHER | Ivanovic | Evra | C | Trip, got the ball but also the player ? linesman called this | 1 |
| 46 | OTHER | Ivanovic | Young | C | Crashed into Young | 1 |
| 46 | YELLOW | Rooney | NC | Rooney slammed down the ball in anger, should have been booked for dissent | 2 | |
| 46 | YELLOW | Ivanovic | C | Reckless ? deserved yellow | 2 | |
| 47 | OTHER | Mata | Giggs | C | Trip | 1 |
| Period 2 | ||||||
| Min | Type | Foul from | On | C/NC | Comment | Weight |
| 46 | GOAL | C | Mata ? Good goal | 3 | ||
| 47 | OTHER | Bosingwa | NC | High kick ? not given | 1 | |
| 50 | OTHER | Evra | Sturridge | C | Trip | 1 |
| 50 | YELLOW | Evra | C | Unsporting behaviour | 2 | |
| 50 | GOAL | C | Luiz- Goal okay | 3 | ||
| 52 | OTHER | Malouda | Valencia | C | Shove | 1 |
| 53 | OFFSIDE | Chicharito | C | Assumed correct | 1 | |
| 54 | OTHER | Bosingwa | Rafael | C | Foul | 1 |
| 55 | OTHER | Rafael | Torres | C | Foul | 1 |
| 55 | OTHER | Chicharito | Luiz | C | Pushed Luiz when going up for header | 1 |
| 57 | PENALTY | Sturridge | Evra | C | Evra tangled with Sturridge and went to ground. | 3 |
| 58 | GOAL | C | Rooney spot kick okay | 3 | ||
| 59 | OTHER | Valencia | Bosingwa | C | Looked like both players holding but I’ll give ref benefit of doubt | 1 |
| 61 | OTHER | Valencia | Bosingwa | C | Assumed correct | 1 |
| 63 | OTHER | NC | Ball last off Evra ? throw wrongly given to United | 1 | ||
| 64 | OTHER | Giggs | Meireles | C | Trip | 1 |
| 68 | PENALTY | Ivanovic | Welbeck | NC | Welbeck kicks the defender then falls down ? wrong call | 3 |
| 68 | YELLOW | Welbeck | NC | Should have been booked for simulation | 2 | |
| 69 | GOAL | NC | Rooney scored from bogus penalty | 3 | ||
| 70 | OTHER | Valencia | Malouda | C | Foul | 1 |
| 83 | OTHER | Giggs | Meireles | C | Trip | 1 |
| 84 | GOAL | C | Chicharito ? goal okay | 3 | ||
| 85 | OTHER | Torres | Ferdinand | NC | Push ? not given | 1 |
| 88 | OTHER | Evans | Torres | NC | Tackled player before touching ball | 1 |
| 88 | OTHER | Essien | Scholes | C | Trip | 1 |
| 91 | OTHER | Scholes | Luiz | C | Block/trip | 1 |
| 91 | YELLOW | Scholes | NC | Should have been booked for dissent | 2 | |
| 93 | PENALTY | Luiz | Evans | C | Luiz used position to his advantage | 3 |
| 94 | OFFSIDE | Chicharito | C | Assumed correct | 1 |
United had two penalty shouts in each half. In the 9th minute Bosingwa did grab hold of Ashley Young’s jersey and then let go as Young flopped to the ground unnaturally. The way he fell made it look like a dive, and the ref waved to play on. This call could have gone either way, so I’ll allow the ref his judgment on this call.
Two minutes later, Cahill tripped up Danny Welbeck at the top of the area. Replays show that Cahill, in an attempt to play the ball tripped up Welbeck just outside the penalty area. Howard Webb from his angle must have thought that Cahill got a touch to the ball and ignored the foul, but in fact it was Welbeck who touched the ball away from the sliding-in Cahill. This was a good scoring chance but not necessarily and obvious goal scoring chance. We actually took a vote on this and by 2 votes to 1 the majority felt a yellow card was the best option all the while agreeing that he might have been sent off as well.
Later in the half, Chelsea scored from a Johnny Evans’ own goal and then added two more goals quickly in the 2nd half to build a 3-0 lead at home. Manchester United would soon start to turn things around.
In the 57th minute, Evra drove the ball into the area. Daniel Sturridge tried to poke the ball away as Evra tried to shield it. Evra fell to ground and Webb pointed to the penalty spot. This was another controversial goal which we also voted on. By a two to one split decision the majority felt that Sturridge was imprudent and stuck his leg in and marked this as a correct call.
Ten minutes later, Webb would point to the spot again as Welbeck went down under a challenge by Ivanovic. However, we felt that the ref got this call wrong. Ivanovic pulled out of his challenge, Welbeck more or less kicked Ivanovic’s foot and then went to ground. It should not have been a penalty and Welbeck should have been booked for simulation. However Webb did give the penalty kick and United made the score 3-2. A late goal by Chicharito brought United level and that’s how the match ended, albeit with some controversy.
| COMPETENCY SUMMARY – Howard Webb (2012-02-05) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | Called | Total | Correct % |
| GOAL | 1 | 1 | 100.00 |
| OFFSIDE | 2 | 2 | 100.00 |
| OTHER | 18 | 25 | 72.00 |
| PENALTY | 2 | 2 | 100.00 |
| YELLOW | 1 | 5 | 20.00 |
| TOTAL | 24 | 35 | 68.57 |
| WEIGHTED | 30 | 45 | 66.67 |
| Period 2 | Called | Total | Correct % |
| GOAL | 4 | 5 | 80.00 |
| OFFSIDE | 2 | 2 | 100.00 |
| OTHER | 12 | 16 | 75.00 |
| PENALTY | 2 | 3 | 66.67 |
| YELLOW | 1 | 3 | 33.33 |
| TOTAL | 21 | 29 | 72.41 |
| WEIGHTED | 34 | 48 | 70.83 |
| Totals | Called | Total | Correct % |
| GOAL | 5 | 6 | 83.33 |
| OFFSIDE | 4 | 4 | 100.00 |
| OTHER | 30 | 41 | 73.17 |
| PENALTY | 4 | 5 | 80.00 |
| YELLOW | 2 | 8 | 25.00 |
| TOTAL | 45 | 64 | 70.31 |
| WEIGHTED | 64 | 93 | 68.82 |
Let us check the bias, if visible in this game
| BIAS SUMMARY – Howard Webb (2012-02-05) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | Chelsea | % | Manchester United | % | Total |
| Correct For | 11 | 47.83 | 12 | 52.17 | 23 |
| Correct For Weighted | 17 | 56.67 | 13 | 43.33 | 30 |
| Incorrect Against | 4 | 36.36 | 7 | 63.64 | 11 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 6 | 40.00 | 9 | 60.00 | 15 |
| Fouls Commited | 16 | 66.67 | 8 | 33.33 | 24 |
| Fouls Penalised | 11 | 68.75 | 6 | 75.00 | 17 |
| Period 2 | Chelsea | % | Manchester United | % | Total |
| Correct For | 15 | 71.43 | 6 | 28.57 | 21 |
| Correct For Weighted | 22 | 64.71 | 12 | 35.29 | 34 |
| Incorrect Against | 6 | 75.00 | 2 | 25.00 | 8 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 12 | 85.71 | 2 | 14.29 | 14 |
| Fouls Commited | 6 | 37.50 | 10 | 62.50 | 16 |
| Fouls Penalised | 4 | 66.67 | 9 | 90.00 | 13 |
| Totals | Chelsea | % | Manchester United | % | Total |
| Correct For | 26 | 59.09 | 18 | 40.91 | 44 |
| Correct For Weighted | 39 | 60.94 | 25 | 39.06 | 64 |
| Incorrect Against | 10 | 52.63 | 9 | 47.37 | 19 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 18 | 62.07 | 11 | 37.93 | 29 |
| Fouls Commited | 22 | 55.00 | 18 | 45.00 | 40 |
| Fouls Penalised | 15 | 68.18 | 15 | 83.33 | 30 |
In the match wrong calls were fairly evenly shared by both teams with the exception of the second penalty awarded to United. The Webb-moment one could say when he throw a life line to United.