Buzzin Football

The Premier League was once again spoilt by poor referee decisions last weekend.  Decisions that affected the Premiership title race and the battle against relegation.

After showing a yellow card to Damian Duff for simulating a dive worthy of any Vietnam war film, Howard Webb then succumb to an even worse attempt at cheating by Matt Taylor as Newcastle tried their level best to keep up with thier fierce rivals Sunderland in a frantic hard-hitting Tyne-Wear derby.

Furthermore, it appeared the Howard Webb’s view was impeded whereas his assistant has a clear view and kept his flag down.

Gabriel Cisse had put Sunderland ahead after 32 minutes but Shola Ameobi equalised from the penalty spot in the 69th minute.  Even with the shocking penalty decision, a draw seemed a fair result as both teams also hit the woodwork and had plenty of chances to win the match.

Unlike the less exciting game at Anfield yesterday afternoon where the game was a pretty dull affair until Mike Reilly llivened things up when he wrongfully dismissed Frank Lampard in the 60th minute with a straight red card for a hard but very clean tackle with Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso.

Alonso and Lampard have history, but Lampard clearly got his foot to the ball while Alonso went over the top, kicking Lampard’s shin in the process.  Earlier in the match Steven Gerrard wasn’t even shown a yellow card for a similar type of lunging slide with studs showing, whereby he actually caught a Chelsea player without touching the ball.

Furthermore, the hapless Mike Reilly failed to even book Jose Bosingwa for a blatant and pre-meditated kick in the centre of Yossi Benayoun’s back in clear view of the referee and his assistant, as the Israeli midfielder attempted to waste time by shielding the ball by the corner flag.

Fernando Torres went on to score to late goals which I believe sees the end of Chelsea’s Premiership title challenge.  And though Chelsea had a poor game and deserved to lose, inconsistent and poor result-changing decisions are doing nothing for the spectacle of the game or indeed helping the Respect Campaign.

In their defence, referees have a split second to make important decisions without the help of a replay or a reverse angle.  But we now know the names of the Premier League referees as much as the players.  They have become too important; and like everything else in life, when too may wrong decisions are made you need to deal with the problem.

Chelsea will appeal for Frank Lampard’s red card to be resinded. But with key players injured and others not performing to their full potential, Mike Riley’s poor decisions have possibly left Chelsea more concerned with regaining their form so as not to miss out on next season’s Champions League, rather than pushing Manchester United all the way for this season’s Premier League title.

Last weekend’s Premier League games were again blighted by poor referee decisions.  Red cards and penalties again showed the FA needs to consider the failings of top referees.