November 30th 2008: Ronaldo sent off
Cristiano Ronaldo received one of the most ridiculous red cards I’ve ever seen, thanks to Howard Webb, during the derby a couple of seasons ago.

Already on a yellow card, a corner was delivered in the direction of Ronaldo who had created the space for a free header. However, instead of putting the ball in the back of the net, he batted the ball away with his hands. It was obvious he was not trying to score and as he landed, looked confused to see the ref walking towards him. He mimed a ‘whistle’, making it clear he thought the whistle had gone, but Webb sent him off regardless.

January 11th 2009: Wrongly disallowed goal
At 0-0, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney took a clever corner, which Ronaldo scored from. Webb hadn’t been paying attention though so disallowed the goal.

The Telegraph: The official reason given by the linesman was that Rooney had not informed him as to his intentions, but Ferguson questioned whether this was in fact necessary. Dermot Gallagher, the former Premier League referee, backed up Ferguson’s assertion that the goal should have stood, describing the corner routine as “creative and innovative.”

Video

April 25th 2009: Palacios escapes red card
The game that everyone talks about when Howard Webb and Manchester United are mentioned is the 5-2 vs Spurs. We were 2-0 down before he awarded a penalty after a challenge on Michael Carrick. In real time, it looked as though Carrick had taken the ball around the keeper before getting floored, when replays showed the keeper got his finger tips to it before taking Carrick out.

However, at 0-0, Wilson Palacios was guilty of a clear red card offence in the 7th minute for a two footed lunge on Ronaldo. Fortunately, our Portuguese winger got out of the way or he could have suffered a serious injury.

Ronaldo knows all too well that going in studs raised results in a red card, even if you don’t make contact, after he was set off for going in one footed and missing the player in the derby a few years earlier.

Video

September 20th 2009: Stone wall penalty not awarded against Chelsea
At 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Ricardo Carvalho brought down Robbie Keane in the box, but no penalty was given.

The Guardian: Absolute 100%, 24-carat stonewall penalty to Spurs. Not given. Keane was through, but in by what may well have been an attempted control from Lennon, Carvalho slides in just as Keane is set to pull the trigger. Not a world class decision from the man who is supposed to be England’s world class refereee.

April 10th 2010: Stone wall penalty not awarded against Chelsea II
At 0-0 in the FA Cup semi-final, John Obi Mikel brought down Agbonlahor in the box but nothing was given.

The Mirror: No surprise that Webb bottled Villa’s nailed-on Wembley penalty claim.

In the same game, John Terry was guilty of making a horrific challenge on James Milner, clearly worthy of a red card, but was just shown a yellow card.

Stats from The Telegraph.

After 8 occasions when Webb has been in charge of Chelsea games, he has never awarded a penalty against them.

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