Following our victory over Portsmouth in the Community Shield, I asked the question, tongue in cheek, whether Portsmouth paid off the refs when playing against United. In our past few matches we have seen Carlos Tevez rugby tackled in the box, whilst Cristiano Ronaldo was shoulder charged, without any consequence, then last night, Wayne Rooney had a perfectly good goal ruled out and penalty shout denied.
No wonder they have such a bloody good record against us!
The Guardian: Rooney was wrongly flagged off-side as he sped through to shoot home. Ferguson’s team would have been conscious that Portsmouth had a basis from which to rally.
The MEN: Wayne Rooney finally managed to urge them into providing an improved supply line. He profited when he brilliantly turned Kaboul in the first half but lashed his shot just wide. Then a wrong flag from a linesman cost him his first goal of the season when he clinically stroked a through ball past James.
The Sun: Rooney was incensed when Evra crossed from the goal-line and, before he could move towards the ball, Campbell quite clearly kicked him over. Rooney threw his arms in the air, appealing to both the referee and the linesman, but got absolutely nowhere. The fact that the ball was intercepted by Kaboul before reaching Rooney may have influenced referee Chris Foy’s decision, but a foul is a foul whether the player has the ball or not — as Rooney vainly attempted to explain.
Still, it’s the 3 points that count. It’s just frustrating that the next time United are awarded a favourable decision, much will be made of it, and decisions like those in tonight’s game will be forgotten.
United, 5th in the league, United United 5th in the league… nah, doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
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I see you neglect to mention the “foul” that was awarded to Scholes from Crouchs perfectly good trackle which led to your rather scrappy, fortunate goal.
You’re having a laugh !!
First it was the lino who flagged Rooney offside not the Ref.
What about O’Sheas clinical tackle in the first half which went unpunished but soon after Defoe got booked.
What about the Ref inability to get the Utd wall back 10 yards
What about every Pompey offside, and there were a lot because Defoe kept getting caught, resulted in a Man Utd free kick thereby giving the Utd players time to get forward but every single offside given to us was acknowledged by the Ref and play continued.
One rule for Utd and one for everyone else. I for one hope Foy does not come back to FP again this season.
What about Respect – on each of the two united bookings the ref was surrounded by Utd players
etc etc
Its all about perceptions but whilst admitting that whilst United probably deserved the win and that the ref made no match changing decisions Foy was in my opinion the worst Ref at FP in a long time.
You were watching a different game to me then son. United had it all their own way with Chris Foy, but what’s new?
At least the linesman are consistent. They always get it wrong!
The offsides rule is ALWAYS called improperly; sometimes it’s a meaningless decision but all-too-often the wrong call changes the game. Last night, the improper call against Rooney kept Pompey in the game when they should have been down nil-2.
It’s a rule from the 19th century and so, too, are the linesmen/assistant referees who NEVER give the attacker the benefit of the doubt – as they are supposed to do !
For what it’s worth, my view is that the offsides rule should be changed so that once the ball is in the attacking zone there is no offsides whatsoever. Moving the ball from zone-to-zone can be adjudicated with the current rules – but they need to be properly interpreted and called so that the attacking team gets the benefit of the doubt in a close play.
It’s important to open up the game and to give attackers more freedom to play – too much hand-contact and elbowing and body-checking is allowed and, with the prejudicial interpretation of the offsides rule, it makes the game more of a rugby match than football. It should change – but it won’t !
Pompey fans, the incidents you are mentioning are little niggles. Silly challenges here and there, wrong calls on fouls, throw-ins going to the wrong team. They happen in every single game and don’t make or break the result.
However, to rule out a good goal and not award a penalty are match deciding moments. And these match deciding moments seems to go against us EVERY time we play Pompey. It’s just rather strange.
Eh up do what son?
When did you have a penalty shout that had any legitimacy? Yes the ‘goal’ should’ve stood but assistants get them wrong all the time. To come out and basically say that Portsmouth get favourable decisions against Manchester United due to them having the refs in their back pockets is quite a stupid allegation to make.
As for the Tevez incident – yes it was a penalty but I don’t see you complaining that Tevez wasn’t sent off for grabbing Hermann by the throat which is an automatic red card. As for the Ronaldo shoulder charge – the live TV commentators, the MOTD commentator and live radio all thought it was a good challenge in real time. replays made it look worse but the shoulder charge is still in the game.
“Little niggles”, Scott the Red. You mean like Crouch being called for a foul on Scholes – which clearly wasn’t – leading to the move that resulted in the goal?
This thread has mentioned one incident that went in Pompey’s favour, and tons that went against. In all fairness the ref & linesmen were basically rubbish no matter who you support – but to suggest that refs go against United is a joke.
Peter – One incident? A penalty and a wrongly disallowed goal. That’s 3-0 right there. All the things Portsmouth fans are complaining about are freekicks here and there which should or shouldn’t have been awarded.
If the Crouch on Scholes incident you’re talking about was a freekick outside the box, which one of our players directly scored from, I’d understand your frustration. But the movement for that goal started in our own half of the pitch! lol. As it is, just sounds like you’re trying to even the score in light of the match deciding decisions the ref made against United and in Pompey’s favour… again.
Neil – had Hermann been sent off in the Community Shield, as he should have done for the most ridiculous foul I think I’ve ever seen, then there would have been no need for Tevez to react. Hermann shouldn’t have been on the field, so what Tevez did after is irrelevant.
Well, with these decisions they couldn’t even get a feckin draw, cos they re shite. Long may it continue… Only against us ofc haha
‘Neil – had Hermann been sent off in the Community Shield, as he should have done for the most ridiculous foul I think I’ve ever seen, then there would have been no need for Tevez to react. Hermann shouldn’t have been on the field, so what Tevez did after is irrelevant.’
That is not true. Hermann would never have been sent off for the incident, Tevez was going away from goal and it was not a clear goal scoring opportunity. However as Hermann was on the field and Tevez did grab him by the throat then it is very relevant. You can’t just say that it is irrelevant just because something didn’t happen before, that makes no sense.
Had Herman stayed on the pitch and scored the winning goal would that’ve been irrelevant because he shouldn’t in your opinion of still been on the pitch? Would you of claimed the win by default?
PS: Where was this penalty incident of which you claim?
The Tevez dive was a joke, he watched diop behind him and sprung into the air like a fountain. he should learn if he plays with fire he’ll get burnt!
Scott the Red,
re: Herman at the CS: How many times must you be reminded that Tevez instigated the incident by first stamping on Herman? He then reacted (i.e. the rugby tackle), which in turn brought about Tevez grabbing him by the throat.
If anyone should have been sent off at Wembley, it is undoubtedly Tevez (for the first offence). End of.
As for last night’s game, I’m merely trying to contend that the notion of Man Utd being hard done by the ref is nothing short of a joke. He made mistakes on both sides (Rooney was definitely onside).
Also – what penalty incident are you talking about? I don’t remember any, other than the ball hitting the top of Sol’s arm from a shot roughly 12 inches away from him? Outside of the goal and Rooney’s shot that went narrowly wide, I can’t think of many decent chances United had? (of course, we had fewer clear cut chances ourselves before you state the obvious!)
It was in the second half, Evra went past Johnson like he was standing still, and cut it back into the box. Kaboul I think got to the pass first and cleared it, but Rooney was right behind him and Sol kicked the shit out of him. Yes, the ball wasn’t going to get to him and he wasn’t going to score, but a foul is a foul and if one player kicks another player anywhere on the field away from the ball it should be given. The commentators both had the same opinion, it wasn’t going to reach him but Sol was reckless in his challenge. It wasn’t and luckily the correct result was achieved anyway.
And Peter, you’re right there werent many clear cut chances. But here are a few that you have missed….
Scholes’ free kick in the first half that brought out a decent save from Calamity. He did well to hold on to the ball too and not give up any rebounds.
And in the second half Rooney was through on the left side and hit a pass across the face of goal that somehow Anderson didn’t connect on. I watched the replay a few times and still have no clue as to how he missed, and even more perplexing, how in the fuck a corner was given!! Again, that linesman was a piece of shit.
Also, it was a half chance, but Vidic had a good header from a corner that went narrowly over.
For you lot…I’d say the best chance was that rip from the sub. Other than that…
I was listening to the game and I heard (since I haven’t seen highlights yet) that Papa Diop was a bloody lucky sod not to have got his marching orders.
And who gives a fuck about a sending off in the Community Shield?? I think the ref did the right thing in that incident, just telling them to get on with it. Its a meaningless exhibition and there is no point in sending players off.
But I think we can all understand the Pompey fans frustration…..If we were sitting on zero points and zero goals at the bottom of the league I think I’d be pissed off too……
Drew Vader,
Thanks for clarifying the penalty shout. It was indeed lucky that the ball didn’t find it’s way through to Rooney or else it was a definite pen. I can’t see the ref giving it if he’s effectively not interfering with play though? (Irrespective of the laws of the game, refs are always dead cagey when making decisions in the box).
We’re not all that pissed off that we’re on zero points – we have just played the top two after all. There is some annoyance that we’re not playing as well as we know we can, but little more than that. Thankfully the league is a marathon and not a sprint, so I think we’ll start moving in the right direction soon enough.
And yes, I’m surprised Diop didn’t get a second yellow as well (I guess we’ve got the ref in our pocket then, yes?!?)
How can you go mental over one wrong offside decision, especially when Utd still won? It’s unlucky that you perceive several decisions going wrongly against you whilst playing Portsmouth over the last year. However, there have been numerous occasions when things have gone right for you and you never mention them. There is never any balanced reporting on this site. Typical Utd fans, winning just isn’t enough is it, you will never be happy! At least the likes of Portsmouth have other lower clubs in the premiership have proper and loyal fans.
No problem. And i was just trying to be funny with my last comment…
You really are a condesending bunch aren’t you? Jesus i’m sure if most prem clubs had your sort of money then we would be able to compete with you. It really is all about money.
As for being bottom we have just played the top 2 teams in the country and possibly europe so I’m not too worried at the moment.
And the guy that said Diop was lucky to stay on the pitch…No you’re right you didn’t see the game so shut the f*** up! He clearly won the ball fairly against Tevez and the argie made a 3 course meal of it!
Not to add salt into the wounds and ster up any uneccesary arguments but Diop also blatantly punched the ball out for a throw when tussling with Rooney half way into the Pompey half, and to make matters the worse the throw in was given to Pompey. The ref certainly wasn’t at the races, or perhaps he was at the races when he should have been at the football match.
With regards to the CS incident, anyone whos anyone can see that Tevez’s stamp (tread) on Herriedesen was accidental, bcoz they were tussling for the ball anf Herriedisen fell over. He was stupid to drag Tevez to the ground coz it cld and shld have been a penalty.
Who cares, Portsmouth lost, sour pussies…
The whole ‘Rooney offside’ thing means nothing because we won the game, if Pompey had scored late on and the final score was 1-1 that decision would have had a massive impact on us and yet again, it will be forgotten in no time.
OTRed – calling Pompey fans sour pussies when it was actually the United writer of this blog who was complaining about the referee!
Gee – you’re bright…
0-1…..we passed and moved you all over fratton village…the most convincing 0-1 i have ever seen. END OFF.
good luck pompey in your battle at bottom end.
goodbye.
PS. UTD best team on ze planet.