Untold Ref Review: Arsenal 0 – 0 Chelsea. Dean does great (yes honest) « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade
Today’s referee is Mike Dean –
| MATCH REVIEW DETAILS – Mike Dean (2012-04-21) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | ||||||
| Min | Type | Foul from | On | C/NC | Comment | Weight |
| 3 | OTHER | Rosicky | Torres | C | Trip, advantage played | 1 |
| 3 | OTHER | Song | Torres | NC | Song nipped ball away, wrong call | 1 |
| 7 | PENALTY | C | Kalou skipped over Sagna challenge, lost rhythm, went down, good no call | 3 | ||
| 9 | OFFSIDE | RVP | C | Just offside | 1 | |
| 10 | OFFSIDE | Torres | C | 1 | ||
| 13 | OTHER | Essien | AOC | C | Trip | 1 |
| 15 | OTHER | Romeu | RVP | NC | Played ball dangerously, not given | 1 |
| 17 | OFFSIDE | Torres | C | Onside, good call | 1 | |
| 19 | OFFSIDE | RVP | C | 1 | ||
| 26 | OFFSIDE | C | Kalou onside, correct | 1 | ||
| 27 | OTHER | NC | Ball last off Vermaelen, ref gives Arsenal goal kick | 1 | ||
| 30 | OTHER | Rosicky | Essien | C | Trip | 1 |
| 30 | YELLOW | Rosicky | C | A bit reckless from behind | 2 | |
| 35 | OTHER | Terry | Walcott | C | Bumped over from behind | 1 |
| 39 | PENALTY | C | Sagna used his position to hold off Bertrand, good no call | 3 | ||
| 41 | OTHER | Romeu | AOC | C | Trip | 1 |
| 44 | OTHER | AOC | Malouda | C | Shove | 1 |
| 46 | OTHER | RVP | Cahill | C | Not shown, assumed correct | 1 |
| 47 | OTHER | Romeu | AOC | C | Pulled back, ref quickly saw no advantage, blew whistle | 1 |
| 47 | OFFSIDE | Walcott | C | Bosingwa’s miskick doesn’t play Walcott onside, good call | 1 | |
| Period 2 | ||||||
| Min | Type | Foul from | On | C/NC | Comment | Weight |
| 48 | OTHER | Song | Malouda | C | Pulled back | 1 |
| 49 | OTHER | Malouda | RVP | C | Trip | 1 |
| 49 | YELLOW | Malouda | C | Killed counter attack | 2 | |
| 50 | OTHER | RVP | Essien | C | Trip from behind | 1 |
| 50 | YELLOW | RVP | C | Killed counter attack | 2 | |
| 54 | PENALTY | C | Song used his position to hold off Torres, good no call | 3 | ||
| 54 | OTHER | Cahill | AOC | C | Lunges to block ball, catches AOC | 1 |
| 54 | YELLOW | Cahill | C | Dangerous play | 2 | |
| 56 | OFFSIDE | RVP | C | 1 | ||
| 62 | OTHER | Gervinho | Bertrand | C | Little shove | 1 |
| 63 | OTHER | Cahill | RVP | C | Trip, normally he should be booked here, but that would be 2nd yellow, ref shows clemency | 1 |
| 66 | OTHER | Song | Torres | C | Pulled back | 1 |
| 68 | OTHER | Bosingwa | AOC | NC | Got ball but followed through on AOC, not given | 1 |
| 69 | OTHER | Gervinho | Bertrand | C | Linesman called a tug on defender | 1 |
| 70 | OTHER | Kalou | Sagna | C | Push | 1 |
| 71 | OTHER | Bertrand | Diaby | C | Pulled shorts, advantage played | 1 |
| 72 | OTHER | Bosingwa | Santos | C | Pulled back by shirt to stop counter | 1 |
| 72 | YELLOW | Bosingwa | C | Unsporting behaviour | 2 | |
| 73 | OTHER | NC | Ramsey poked ball out, but throw given to Arsenal | 1 | ||
| 75 | OTHER | Sagna | Torres | C | Torres backed in a bit, but Sagna went over top of him | 1 |
| 75 | OFFSIDE | Mata | C | 1 | ||
| 76 | OTHER | Diaby | Essien | C | A bit reckless from behind | 1 |
| 76 | YELLOW | Diaby | C | Dangerous play | 2 | |
| 77 | OTHER | Mikel | Koscielny | C | Foul | 1 |
| 80 | PENALTY | C | Cahill seemed to be jockeying for position, RVP went down easily, no penalty | 3 | ||
| 81 | OTHER | Song | Cole | NC | Trip, not given | 1 |
| 81 | OTHER | Cole | Song | C | Cole retaliates with a little kick/attempted trip from behind | 1 |
| 81 | YELLOW | Cole | C | Dirty play | 2 | |
| 83 | OFFSIDE | RVP | NC | Looked half a step offside | 1 | |
| 83 | OFFSIDE | Torres | C | 1 | ||
| 86 | OTHER | Malouda | Diaby | NC | Pulled back, not given | 1 |
| 86 | OTHER | Essien | Santos | NC | Trip, not given | 1 |
| 91 | OFFSIDE | RVP | C | Assumed correct | 1 | |
| 92 | OFFSIDE | Mata | C | Assumed correct | 1 |
Mike Dean has often put in poor performances when reffing Arsenal this season, but today he was different. He was quite good to say the least, not showing any apparent bias. No, today he looked like a proper professional referee, doing his job as he should and showing fairness to both sides.
The first clue that things were going to be different was when Kalou went down in the area in the 7th minute. It didn’t look like a penalty. Kalou seemed to have lost his rhythm as Sagna challenged and went down on his own accord. The Emirates crowd held their breath until Dean correctly waved off the penalty appeal by Chelsea.
Similarly later in the match, there were also a couple of instances where Chelsea players Bertrand and Torres fell in the area when they were shouldered off by Sagna and Song respectively. In both of these cases, the defender used his position to hold off the Chelsea player, and Dean, not being duped, ignored the shouts.
Dean gave cards when necessary and had a word if needed as in the case when Vermaelen jumped into John Terry. The Chelsea defender was however moving into Vermaelen’s path as he tried to shield him from the keeper. Dean still might have booked Vermaelen for that, but having a word was alright there.
Note that Terry a little later fouled Walcott and then stood over him to make sure he didn’t easily take a quick free kick. This was done very briefly, a clever play by Terry, and perhaps Dean might have booked Terry, but that would have been harsh in my opinion. The ref did book players for tripping from behind and killing counter attacks.
Gary Cahill went into the books in the 54th minute for a dangerous challenge on Oxlade-Chamberlain. Nine minutes later he was perhaps lucky to have stayed on the pitch when he tripped Van Persie who was looking to turn him after laying the ball off for Aaron Ramsey. However Mike Dean must have felt the challenge was not worthy of a 2nd yellow and showed mercy on the Chelsea defender.
In the 80th minute, Arsenal had a penalty shout of their own. Song curled a ball into the area and Van Persie started to back onto it. Gary Cahill then rushed goalside of Van Persie to jockey for position when the Arsenal captain fell to ground. The contact seemed normal and somewhat minimal and Van Persie went down rather easily. It did not look a penalty in my view. Dean was not feeling charitable awarding penalties on the day and he wasn’t about to start now.
| COMPETENCY SUMMARY – Mike Dean (2012-04-21) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | Called | Total | Correct % |
| OFFSIDE | 6 | 6 | 100.00 |
| OTHER | 8 | 11 | 72.73 |
| PENALTY | 2 | 2 | 100.00 |
| YELLOW | 1 | 1 | 100.00 |
| TOTAL | 17 | 20 | 85.00 |
| WEIGHTED | 22 | 25 | 88.00 |
| Period 2 | Called | Total | Correct % |
| OFFSIDE | 5 | 6 | 83.33 |
| OTHER | 15 | 20 | 75.00 |
| PENALTY | 2 | 2 | 100.00 |
| YELLOW | 6 | 6 | 100.00 |
| TOTAL | 28 | 34 | 82.35 |
| WEIGHTED | 38 | 44 | 86.36 |
| Totals | Called | Total | Correct % |
| OFFSIDE | 11 | 12 | 91.67 |
| OTHER | 23 | 31 | 74.19 |
| PENALTY | 4 | 4 | 100.00 |
| YELLOW | 7 | 7 | 100.00 |
| TOTAL | 45 | 54 | 83.33 |
| WEIGHTED | 60 | 69 | 86.96 |
So a very high score for a game with Arsenal and Dean on the same pitch.
| BIAS SUMMARY – Mike Dean (2012-04-21) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | Arsenal | % | Chelsea | % | Total |
| Correct For | 7 | 41.18 | 10 | 58.82 | 17 |
| Correct For Weighted | 11 | 50.00 | 11 | 50.00 | 22 |
| Incorrect Against | 2 | 66.67 | 1 | 33.33 | 3 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 2 | 66.67 | 1 | 33.33 | 3 |
| Fouls Commited | 4 | 44.44 | 5 | 55.56 | 9 |
| Fouls Penalised | 4 | 100.00 | 4 | 80.00 | 8 |
| Period 2 | Arsenal | % | Chelsea | % | Total |
| Correct For | 16 | 57.14 | 12 | 42.86 | 28 |
| Correct For Weighted | 22 | 57.89 | 16 | 42.11 | 38 |
| Incorrect Against | 3 | 50.00 | 3 | 50.00 | 6 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 3 | 50.00 | 3 | 50.00 | 6 |
| Fouls Commited | 8 | 44.44 | 10 | 55.56 | 18 |
| Fouls Penalised | 7 | 87.50 | 8 | 80.00 | 15 |
| Totals | Arsenal | % | Chelsea | % | Total |
| Correct For | 23 | 51.11 | 22 | 48.89 | 45 |
| Correct For Weighted | 33 | 55.00 | 27 | 45.00 | 60 |
| Incorrect Against | 5 | 55.56 | 4 | 44.44 | 9 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 5 | 55.56 | 4 | 44.44 | 9 |
| Fouls Commited | 12 | 44.44 | 15 | 55.56 | 27 |
| Fouls Penalised | 11 | 91.67 | 12 | 80.00 | 23 |
Arsenal definitely had chances to win this match with both Van Persie and Koscielny hitting the woodwork from set pieces, but it was not to be. A draw and a point against Chelsea was not a bad result especially considering how Arsenal have done under Mike Dean lately, though I must say that the ref and his linesmen put in a very good shift, making few errors and getting nearly all of the big calls correct.
Even the bias numbers are very close for Dean in this game. Now surely it can’t be…no it can’t…or could it…or is it a coincidence after exposing him lately…