Untold ref review: Liverpool 1 – ManU 1; Man U get the most wrong calls! « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager
By Ref Reviewer 02
The biggest game in world football my arse, the quality was appalling, the first half was dire, bad passing, poor technique, I cannot ever remember Arsenal passing the ball as badly as these two did in the first half, an advert for the EPL`s passion, but certainly not its quality. The second half was a better, but it had to be.
The ref was Marriner, he will be relieved that none of his decisions affected the outcome, not wanting his name to be in the headlines, but his lack of decisions certainly did affect the outcome. The end result was a match only loosely played to the laws of the game. allowing certain players to question every decision (Ferdinand, Evra) and Suarez to fall over like a dying Swan every time he was touched. Marriner showed a reluctance to assert any authority when the game really needed it, had he done so he would have focused the players minds on playing football, and less on pushing the laws to the limit.
Ferdinand should have walked, Arguabley so should Suarez, Liverpool wanted a penalty that never was, but for me the biggest decision was on 85. Skrtel simply pulled down Hernandez as he made a run off him, it was blatant and should have been seen, the ref had a good angle as did the assistant. Had this been given man Utd would prob have won the game. Was it a caution for Skrtel, maybe, but as the ball was 20 yards away, and it was not a goal scoring opportunity, I will say a pen would have been enough.
| Min | Type | Foul from | On | C/NC | Comment | points | weight |
| 1 | Foul | Suarez | Park | C | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Other | C | Correct advantage played for a foul on Adam | 1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | Foul | Downing | Smalling | C | Marriner could easily have cautioned Downing but chose not to, it was a reckless challenge after he lost the ball, the referee has set the bar very early | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Foul | Ferdinand | Suarez | N/C | Suarez is backing in, all Rio does is jump and win the ball, Suarez falls over, Rio protests very aggressively | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Foul | Evra | Downing | N/C | Downing dives to win a free kick, Evra reaction is aggressive | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Foul | Kelly | Young | C | 1 | 1 | |
| 23 | Foul | Smalling | Suarez | C | 1 | 1 | |
| 27 | Foul | Lucas | Park | C | 1 | 1 | |
| 27 | Yellow | Lucas | C | Marriner brings out a yellow as Lucas decides to bring Park down as he breaks away | 1 | 2 | |
| 28 | Other | C | A foul by Jones leads to a Man Utd breakaway, good advantage played | 1 | 1 | ||
| 28 | Yellow | Jones | N/C | If Lucas was a caution so was Jones, Marriner has a word, but is showing inconsistency | 0 | 0 | |
| 38 | Handball | Suarez | C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 41 | Foul | Giggs | Adam | C | 1 | 1 | |
| 41 | Foul | Young | Gerrad | C | 1 | 1 | |
| 41 | Yellow | Young | N/C | Young did not really challenge, Gerrad squeezed between Young and Evra, the coming together off all 3 leaving Gerrard on the ground | 0 | 0 | |
| Half time | 11 | 12 | |||||
| CORRECT | 73,33% | 66,67% | |||||
| YELLOW | 1 | 3 | 33,33 | ||||
| RED | 0 | 0 | |||||
| PENALTY | 0 | 0 | |||||
| GOAL | 0 | 0 | |||||
| OTHER | 3 | 3 | 100,00 | ||||
| 4 | 6 | 66,67 | |||||
| OFFSIDE | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Second half | |||||||
| 46 | Foul | Downing | Park | N/C | No foul committed | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Foul | Lucas | Young | N/C | Young dives into Lucas and falls like a tree | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Offside | Suarez | C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 48 | Foul | Welbeck | Carragher | C | 1 | 1 | |
| 48 | Foul | Smalling | Downing | N/C | Ref misses a foul as Smalling holds off Downing | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | Foul | Park | Suarez | C | 1 | 1 | |
| 51 | Other | C | Anfield calls for a penalty as Kuyt heads the ball onto Evans arm, Marriner is rightly having none of it | 1 | 3 | ||
| 52 | Foul | Ferdinand | Suarez | C | Ferdinand is behind Suarez and does not do any more than stand up and try to get tight, there is contact but Suarez falls over theatrically | 1 | 1 |
| 52 | Yellow | Ferdinand | N/C | Rio recieves his first yellow in club football since March 2009, the challenge did not warrant it, but again he argues with the ref | 0 | 0 | |
| 59 | Foul | Welbeck | Gerrard | C | 1 | 1 | |
| 64 | yellow | Suarez | N/C | It has kicked off between Evra and Suarez at a corner, they really are both pushing the ref hard, his reluctance to caution is surprising, as they walk away, Suarez pats Evra on the head, it is deliberate and intended to incite, Suarez at least should have been cautioned | 0 | 0 | |
| 65 | Yellow | Evra | C | Evra is cautioned as the argument with Suarez continues, but still no caution for Suarez | 1 | 2 | |
| 67 | Foul | Ferdinand | Adam | C | This is the challenge that many believed that Rio should have been cautioned for, there was some contact and enough to bring Adam down in a good position, Rio was in the wrong shape and challenged with his wrong foot, if the challenge was not a caution then the dissent that followed certainly was as he called adam a cheat and again argued with the ref | 1 | 1 |
| 67 | Yellow | Ferdinand | N/C | Either the challenge or the dissent was worthy of a yellow, Rio should have walked | 0 | 0 | |
| 67 | Goal | C | Gerrard scores | 1 | 3 | ||
| 75 | Foul | Nani | Adam | C | 1 | 1 | |
| 76 | Other | N/C | Ref plays an advantage but none is gained so he should have called the game back | 0 | 0 | ||
| 78 | Offside | Suarez | C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 79 | Other | Kuyt | C | High Feet | 1 | 1 | |
| 80 | Offside | Hernandez | C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 81 | Goal | Hernandez | C | 1 | 3 | ||
| 84 | Offside | Suarez | C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 85 | Penalty | Skrtel | Hernandez | N/C | This was as clear as I have seen all season, the little man is in the box, runs behind skrtel who simply pulls him to the ground, the assistant must have seen it because they were both along the last line and on his side. | 0 | 0 |
| 85 | Foul | Henderson | Nani | N/C | The ball is running away from henderson after a bad touch, he lunges at it both feet off the ground, nani sees him coming and pulls out of the challenge, it looks like a clean tackle but only because Nani enjoys having two legs. | 0 | 0 |
| 85 | Yellow | Henderson | N/C | At the very least the challenge was worth a yellow | 0 | 0 | |
| 87 | Foul | Fletcher | Suarez | N/C | Suarez again falls to the floor with no contact | 0 | 0 |
| 87 | Yellow | Suarez | N/C | He really should have been booked for this simulation | 0 | 0 | |
| 2nd half score | |||||||
| TOTAL | 15 | 22 | |||||
| % | CORRECT | 55,56% | 53,66% | ||||
| YELLOW | 1 | 5 | 20,00 | ||||
| RED | 0 | 1 | 0,00 | ||||
| PENALTY | 0 | 1 | 0,00 | ||||
| GOAL | 2 | 2 | 100,00 | ||||
| OTHER | 2 | 4 | 50,00 | ||||
| 5 | 13 | 38,46 | |||||
| OFFSIDE | 4 | 4 | 100,00 | ||||
| TOTAL SCORE | |||||||
| TOTAL | 26 | 34 | |||||
| % | CORRECT | 63,41% | 57,63% | ||||
| YELLOW | 2 | 8 | 25,00 | ||||
| RED | 0 | 1 | 0,00 | ||||
| PENALTY | 0 | 1 | 0,00 | ||||
| GOAL | 2 | 2 | 100,00 | ||||
| OTHER | 5 | 7 | 71,43 | ||||
| 9 | 19 | 47,37 | |||||
| OFFSIDE | 4 | 4 | 100,00 | ||||
| Correct calls | For Liverpool | 13 | 52,00% | ||||
| For Man Utd | 12 | 48,00% | |||||
| Total correct calls | 25 | ||||||
| Wrong calls | Against Liverpool | 5 | 29,41% | ||||
| Against Man Utd | 12 | 70,59% | |||||
| Total | 17 |
Oh and notice the wrong calls. For the first time United have more wrong calls against them than the opposition. I really wonder what Dalglish agreed with Mike Riley when they met.