Untold Ref Review: Bolton Wanderers 0 – 0 Arsenal « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager
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Today’s referee is Chris Foy – A scoreless goal at the Reebok stadium between Bolton Wanderers and Arsenal. Only one person scored but was it the ref?
| MATCH REVIEW DETAILS – Chris Foy (2012-02-01) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | ||||||
| Min | Type | Foul from | On | C/NC | Comment | Weight |
| 2 | OTHER | Walcott | C | Handball | 1 | |
| 11 | OTHER | Ngog | Arteta | C | Attempted trip | 1 |
| 15 | OFFSIDE | Bolton | C | Assumed correct | 1 | |
| 15 | OTHER | Muamba | Arteta | C | Trip | 1 |
| 16 | OTHER | Ngog | Koscielny | C | Attempted trip, advantage given, RVP shoots wide | 1 |
| 17 | OFFSIDE | Bolton | C | correct | 1 | |
| 19 | OTHER | Eagles | Ox | C | Trip | 1 |
| 22 | OTHER | Muamba | Ox | NC | Trip not given | 1 |
| 22 | OTHER | Vermaelen | Eagles | C | Trip | 1 |
| 29 | OTHER | Song | M. Davies | C | Holding | 1 |
| 29 | YELLOW | Song | NC | Should have been a yellow card for holding for a while | 2 | |
| 30 | OTHER | Muamba | Ox | NC | Held him back, not given, ref could not see it from his angle | 2 |
| 32 | OTHER | Ramsey | M. Davies | C | Trip, advantage given | 1 |
| 33 | OTHER | Bol? | Walcott | NC | Pulled him back, not given | 1 |
| 34 | OFFSIDE | Bolton | C | Assumed correct | 1 | |
| 37 | OTHER | Vermaelen | M. Davies | NC | He just dived, Vermaelen not even close and he clearly jumped out of the way | 1 |
| 37 | YELLOW | Vermaelen | NC | Not a foul, not a yellow card. Ref was wrong | 2 | |
| 37 | YELLOW | M. Davies | NC | Davies should have booked, a blatant dive is always a yellow not just in the penalty area | 2 | |
| 39 | OTHER | Steinsson | Ox | C | Trip from behind | 1 |
| 39 | YELLOW | Steinsson | C | Promising run brought to an end | 2 | |
| 42 | OTHER | Ngog | Vermalen | NC | Push in the back not given | 1 |
| 42 | OTHER | Arteta | Eagles | C | Push | 1 |
| 44 | OTHER | Ngog | Mertesacker | C | Push | 1 |
| Period 2 | ||||||
| Min | Type | Foul from | On | C/NC | Comment | Weight |
| 48 | OTHER | M. Davies | Arteta | C | Planted his foot on the ankle | 1 |
| 48 | YELLOW | M. Davies | NC | Should have been a yellow card | 2 | |
| 52 | OFFSIDE | Arsenal | C | Assumed correct | 1 | |
| 53 | OFFSIDE | Arsenal | C | correct | 1 | |
| 54 | OTHER | Ricketts? | Sagna | NC | Two fouls a tip and holding, nothing given | 1 |
| 55 | OTHER | Walcott | Ngog | C | 1 | |
| 57 | OTHER | NC | assistant signals correct a throw to Arsenal, ref gives it the other way | 1 | ||
| 58 | OFFSIDE | Bolton | C | Assumed correct | 1 | |
| 60 | OFFSIDE | Arsenal | C | just offside | 0 | |
| 62 | PENALTY | Vermaelen | Ngog | C | As far as the angle allowed it there was an obstruction just outside the penalty area. An obstruction does not result in a direct free kick so even it was inside it should have been an indirect free kick and not a penalty | 0 |
| 63 | OTHER | Sagna | Ricketts | C | Trip | 1 |
| 65 | OTHER | Muamba | Song | C | Trip | 1 |
| 70 | OTHER | Arteta | Reo cocker | C | Trip | 1 |
| 76 | OTHER | K. Davies | Sagna | C | Trip | 1 |
| 80 | OTHER | K. Davies | Vermaelen | C | High foot | 1 |
| 84 | OTHER | Knight | Henry | NC | Push in the back not given | 1 |
| 86 | OTHER | Koscielny | Reo cocker | NC | Push in the back not given | 1 |
| 86 | OTHER | Vermaelen | K. Davies | C | Trip. It takes 40 seconds before the game is restared and no treatment needed at all. | 1 |
| 88 | OTHER | Mertesacker | K. Davies | C | Mertesacker pulls Davies OUTSIDE the penalty area ref plays advantage as Davies is through on goal | 1 |
| 88 | PENALTY | Szczesny | K. Davies | C | Szczesny pushed the ball away, correct no penalty given | 0 |
| 89 | OFFSIDE | Arsenal | C | Assumed correct | 1 | |
| 92 | OTHER | Rosicky | Eagles | C | Assumed correct | 1 |
| 93 | OTHER | Henry | Steinsson | C | Jumped in the back | 1 |
| 94 | OTHER | K. Davies | Mertesacker | NC | High foot not given | 1 |
A few talking points as Bolton claimed two penalties. The first one could have been an instruction of Vermaelen who didn’t get out of the way when he and Ngog where chasing the same ball. Ngog ran in to the back of Vermaelen and went down. Unfortunately there was no replay where I could exactly see where they collided. Was it inside or outside was unclear. The only foul one could say was that Vermaelen made an obstruction. And the rules are clear to give a penalty you must make a foul that warrants a direct free kick. And an obstruction warrants only an indirect free kick. So if an obstruction would have been called it would have been an indirect free kick.
The other penalty claim was for me more clear. Mertesacker pulled Davies on the arm but this was outside the penalty area. As Davies continued his run and was no longer fouled by Mertesacker inside the penalty area the only thing that mattered was if Szczesny played the ball or not. For me he did and he pushed the ball away from the goal and then Davies fell over Szczesny. From the moment the keeper plays the ball in such a situation no ref will give a penalty.
| COMPETENCY SUMMARY – Chris Foy (2012-02-01) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | Called | Total | Correct % |
| OFFSIDE | 3 | 3 | 100.00 |
| OTHER | 11 | 16 | 68.75 |
| YELLOW | 1 | 4 | 25.00 |
| TOTAL | 15 | 23 | 65.22 |
| WEIGHTED | 16 | 26 | 61.54 |
| Period 2 | Called | Total | Correct % |
| OFFSIDE | 5 | 5 | 100.00 |
| OTHER | 11 | 16 | 68.75 |
| PENALTY | 2 | 2 | 100.00 |
| YELLOW | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| TOTAL | 18 | 24 | 75.00 |
| WEIGHTED | 22 | 29 | 75.86 |
| Totals | Called | Total | Correct % |
| OFFSIDE | 8 | 8 | 100.00 |
| OTHER | 22 | 32 | 68.75 |
| PENALTY | 2 | 2 | 100.00 |
| YELLOW | 1 | 5 | 20.00 |
| TOTAL | 33 | 47 | 70.21 |
| WEIGHTED | 38 | 55 | 69.09 |
The final score of the ref is just around 70%. This is close to his usual average in fact. So he just did his game in his own way. The good thing is that he didn’t get the important decisions very wrong. Apart from handing out the yellow cards. The Vermaelen yellow card was a joke as it was a clear dive from M. Davies who should have received a yellow card for his dive.
M. Davies also escaped another yellow card when he came in and planted his foot on the ankle of Arteta. He didn’t play the ball at that time and the ref rightly called the foul but should have been a card because it was dangerous.
| BIAS SUMMARY – Chris Foy (2012-02-01) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | Bolton Wanderers | % | Arsenal | % | Total |
| Correct For | 5 | 33.33 | 10 | 66.67 | 15 |
| Correct For Weighted | 5 | 31.25 | 11 | 68.75 | 16 |
| Incorrect Against | 2 | 25.00 | 6 | 75.00 | 8 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 4 | 33.33 | 8 | 66.67 | 12 |
| Fouls Commited | 15 | 75.00 | 5 | 25.00 | 20 |
| Fouls Penalised | 9 | 60.00 | 5 | 100.00 | 14 |
| Period 2 | Bolton Wanderers | % | Arsenal | % | Total |
| Correct For | 11 | 73.33 | 4 | 26.67 | 15 |
| Correct For Weighted | 11 | 73.33 | 4 | 26.67 | 15 |
| Incorrect Against | 1 | 16.67 | 5 | 83.33 | 6 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 1 | 14.29 | 6 | 85.71 | 7 |
| Fouls Commited | 8 | 40.00 | 12 | 60.00 | 20 |
| Fouls Penalised | 5 | 62.50 | 11 | 91.67 | 16 |
| Totals | Bolton Wanderers | % | Arsenal | % | Total |
| Correct For | 16 | 53.33 | 14 | 46.67 | 30 |
| Correct For Weighted | 16 | 51.61 | 15 | 48.39 | 31 |
| Incorrect Against | 3 | 21.43 | 11 | 78.57 | 14 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 5 | 26.32 | 14 | 73.68 | 19 |
| Fouls Commited | 23 | 57.50 | 17 | 42.50 | 40 |
| Fouls Penalised | 14 | 60.87 | 16 | 94.12 | 30 |
If we look at the incorrect calls we see that when he made a mistake it was largely against Arsenal. A few pulls and pushes went unnoticed but not something that raises too many eyebrows for the moment. It is just his style of refereeing that we are used to.
The ref wasn’t out to screw us completely, which is almost a relieve these days. So no real complaints about his performance from me. I would say a regular Foy performance on the day and the score just above the limit.