Untold Ref Review: Newcastle Utd 0 – 2 Man City. Want an example of bias? Here it is. « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager
This article is part of a series stretching over several seasons in which a team of referees analyse the work of refs in Premier League matches.
Our figures show that when we analyse the errors made by refs there are consistent trends which do not “even out” through the season, as some commentators would have it. All the earlier ref reviews plus analyses of the errors made by refs, and articles relating to our campaign to have the body which organises referees activities reformed, plus an analysis of the background to this campaign, can be found on:
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Today’s referee is Howard Webb –
| MATCH REVIEW DETAILS – Howard Webb (2012-05-06) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | ||||||
| Min | Type | Foul from | On | C/NC | Comment | Weight |
| 1 | OTHER | Tevez | Tiote | C | Pull | 1 |
| 2 | OTHER | Silva | Ben Arfa | C | little pull | 1 |
| 5 | OFFSIDE | MC | C | assumed correct | 1 | |
| 7 | OTHER | Cabaye | Barry | C | high foot | 1 |
| 7 | YELLOW | Cabaye | NC | Barry was right in front of him so he knew he was there and still raised his foot at Barry’s face, dangerous | 2 | |
| 12 | OTHER | NC | Throw in for MC given to Newcastle | 1 | ||
| 14 | OTHER | Jonas | Barry | NC | advantage given it was possession, nothing really on | 1 |
| 16 | OFFSIDE | Newcastle | C | assumed correct | 1 | |
| 23 | OFFSIDE | MC | C | assumed correct | 1 | |
| 26 | OTHER | Ben Arfa | Clichy | C | different pulling attempts and then a trip | 1 |
| 26 | YELLOW | Ben Arfa | C | a bit harsh maybe at first sight but he did continue in making fouls till it worked and this should be punished with a booking | 2 | |
| 30 | OTHER | Barry | Cabaye | C | pull | 1 |
| 30 | YELLOW | Barry | C | stopped a promising attack | 2 | |
| 32 | OTHER | Tiote | Sivla | C | trip | 1 |
| 32 | YELLOW | Tiote | C | tackle from behind and made sure that he got the man by lifting his leg | 2 | |
| 35 | OFFSIDE | MC | C | as Newcastle gets the ball away and can run away without a City player near the ref gives advantage, nicely done this one | 1 | |
| 36 | OTHER | Jonas | Nasri | NC | first jumped in to him, then a handball, nothing given | 1 |
| 36 | OTHER | Perch | Tevez | C | trip | 1 |
| 36 | YELLOW | Perch | C | kicked him on the Achilles | 2 | |
| 38 | OTHER | Yaya | Santon | C | trip | 1 |
| 38 | YELLOW | Yaya | C | similar to the Tiote yellow, a consistent ref this time! | 2 | |
| 42 | OTHER | Nasri | C | handball assumed correct | 1 | |
| 43 | OTHER | BA | Kompany | C | holding and high foot | 1 |
| 46 | OFFSIDE | Barry | c | Correct | 1 | |
| Period 2 | ||||||
| Min | Type | Foul from | On | C/NC | Comment | Weight |
| 49 | OTHER | Jonas | Zabaleta | C | Trip and push | 1 |
| 51 | OTHER | Perch | Tevez | C | Trip | 1 |
| 57 | OTHER | Yaya | Santon | C | trip | 1 |
| 58 | OTHER | Jonas | Aguero | C | trip | 1 |
| 66 | OTHER | Lescott | Krul | C | attacked the keeper in the air | 1 |
| 70 | GOAL | MC | C | correct goal | 3 | |
| 73 | OTHER | Cisse | Barry | C | Trip | 1 |
| 78 | OTHER | Ba | Lescott | NC | push on defender not given | 1 |
| 79 | OTHER | Zabaleta | Ferguson | C | trip | 1 |
| 79 | YELLOW | Zabaleta | C | no doubt about that | 2 | |
| 80 | OTHER | Ferguson | Silva | C | came in late | 1 |
| 80 | YELLOW | Ferguson | C | a bit stupid but may be some kind of revenge feelings | 2 | |
| 81 | OTHER | Tiote | Zabaleta | c | Trip | 1 |
| 81 | RED | Tiote | NC | should have been a second yellow card for a dangerous kick | 3 | |
| 85 | OTHER | Ameobi | Lescott | C | push | 1 |
| 89 | PENALTY | Richards | C | Appeal for handball but it was not even close to handball as the ball hit the back of Richards, correct non call | 3 | |
| 89 | GOAL | MC | C | correct goal | 3 | |
| 91 | OTHER | Williamson | Dzeko | NC | pull not given | 1 |
| 92 | OTHER | Jonas | Aguero | NC | Trip not given | 1 |
So Howard Webb was the ref for this very important game. When the other Manchester went to Newcastle the home team managed a big win. Today City showed they are different from United.
The first miss from the ref was when Cabaye almost kicked against the chin of Barry. The fact that Barry was in front of Cabaye so he should have seen him going with this head to the ball made this a foul worthy of a yellow card. The good thing is that Webb gave the foul. I have seen him not give such fouls.
At the end of the first half he was very strong with dealing with the needed cards for the fouls when it was required. And if we can praise the ref we will praise him: he was consistent in handing out the yellow cards. For the same fouls he gave the same card. As a result he had a decent score.
Despite the high interest the second half started rather fair from both teams. Some fouls but nothing serious. And with Webb being fair for both teams. His first mistake came with only 12 minutes to go. In the last 10 minutes the nerves came in. Zabaleta with a strong challenge, Ferguson replied with a strong challenge and Webb took out his cards. Correct from the ref.
But when Tiote took his turn on Zabaleta and came in with his studs under the knee of Zabaleta the ref let his card in his pocket. Tioté should have walked at least with his second yellow card. Pardew took Tioté off the field minutes later to prevent him getting that second card I guess.
After City scored their second goal it was game over. Webb refused to blow another foul against Newcastle and this cost him a few points.
| COMPETENCY SUMMARY – Howard Webb (2012-05-06) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | Called | Total | Correct % |
| OFFSIDE | 5 | 5 | 100.00 |
| OTHER | 10 | 13 | 76.92 |
| YELLOW | 5 | 6 | 83.33 |
| TOTAL | 20 | 24 | 83.33 |
| WEIGHTED | 25 | 30 | 83.33 |
| Period 2 | Called | Total | Correct % |
| GOAL | 2 | 2 | 100.00 |
| OTHER | 10 | 13 | 76.92 |
| PENALTY | 1 | 1 | 100.00 |
| RED | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| YELLOW | 2 | 2 | 100.00 |
| TOTAL | 15 | 19 | 78.95 |
| WEIGHTED | 21 | 27 | 77.78 |
| Totals | Called | Total | Correct % |
| GOAL | 2 | 2 | 100.00 |
| OFFSIDE | 5 | 5 | 100.00 |
| OTHER | 20 | 26 | 76.92 |
| PENALTY | 1 | 1 | 100.00 |
| RED | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| YELLOW | 7 | 8 | 87.50 |
| TOTAL | 35 | 43 | 81.40 |
| WEIGHTED | 46 | 57 | 80.70 |
All in all he got a rather good score somewhere in the 80% so no complaints about that. But…
| BIAS SUMMARY – Howard Webb (2012-05-06) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | Newcastle United | % | Manchester City | % | Total |
| Correct For | 11 | 55.00 | 9 | 45.00 | 20 |
| Correct For Weighted | 13 | 52.00 | 12 | 48.00 | 25 |
| Incorrect Against | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 100.00 | 4 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 0 | 0.00 | 5 | 100.00 | 5 |
| Fouls Commited | 8 | 47.06 | 9 | 52.94 | 17 |
| Fouls Penalised | 6 | 75.00 | 9 | 100.00 | 15 |
| Period 2 | Newcastle United | % | Manchester City | % | Total |
| Correct For | 4 | 26.67 | 11 | 73.33 | 15 |
| Correct For Weighted | 5 | 21.74 | 18 | 78.26 | 23 |
| Incorrect Against | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 100.00 | 4 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 0 | 0.00 | 6 | 100.00 | 6 |
| Fouls Commited | 10 | 76.92 | 3 | 23.08 | 13 |
| Fouls Penalised | 7 | 70.00 | 3 | 100.00 | 10 |
| Totals | Newcastle United | % | Manchester City | % | Total |
| Correct For | 15 | 42.86 | 20 | 57.14 | 35 |
| Correct For Weighted | 18 | 37.50 | 30 | 62.50 | 48 |
| Incorrect Against | 0 | 0.00 | 8 | 100.00 | 8 |
| Incorrect Against Weighted | 0 | 0.00 | 11 | 100.00 | 11 |
| Fouls Commited | 18 | 60.00 | 12 | 40.00 | 30 |
| Fouls Penalised | 13 | 72.22 | 12 | 100.00 | 25 |
…But if we look at the bias index we see that he managed to make only 8 mistakes (not that bad) but all the mistakes where in favour of Newcastle. With the fame Webb has one can wonder if they really were mistakes….