Meanwhile Celtic reached the group stages having already been knocked out and Shels reached the FAI Cup final having already been... I'm noticing a trend here.
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Meanwhile Celtic reached the group stages having already been knocked out and Shels reached the FAI Cup final having already been... I'm noticing a trend here.
Just on this, it was interesting to note that the fifth official seemed to be the one who disallowed Defoe's late goal for Spurs on Wednesday, which would have seen them go through (in all likelihood) - see below from 2:55
One of the most bizarre refereeing decisions I've ever seen (even allowing for the fact that it probably should have been a free out for Defoe's initial challenge which left the lad injured)
The referee's decision was correct. The 5th official had been shouting at the referee to award a free kick for Defoe's challenge on the defender. This was shown in replays after the game, so in fact, it was the right decision. The only reason it took so long was because the referee did not hear him and only did so when the goal had gone in. Still the right decision. Begs the question though, what's the point in him being there if he doesn't have a flag or something similiar to alert the referee in times such as the above.
The only bizarre thing about that decision is that Defoe didn't get at least a yellow card for his two-footed challenge.
Yeah, I think in the end, the ref got it right. But you can't go calling play back for a foul ten seconds earlier just because a goal went in. Agree with your comments on the fifth official; was just highlighting the difference between there and the Rovers game incident (and Charlie's comment on it).
It does seem to be a not particularly useful innovation though.
But either he noticed it at the time (when he should have given an immediate free out cos it was a foul), or he didn't notice it. If he didn't notice it, how can he then give a free out (by himself)? If the fifth official couldn't communicate with him for that length of time, why not? (The linesman, for example, can immediately flag a foul and bring it to the ref's attention) And if the fifth official did annul the goal, it does kind of contradict Charlie Darwin's point that fifth officials can't make decisions.
And I know you were deliberately exaggerating to make a point, but no, you can't bring play back ten minutes after an incident to give a foul (in part, because the laws of the game prevent it, but that law didn't apply in this case).
And so, so soon after you'd spoken! Sod's Law really. :)
I don't think the length of time is an issue. You see regularly enough the assistant putting his flag up for offside without the referee noticing, in some cases for a considerable length of time. Perhaps he didn't notice the fifth official (that's not hard to imagine, everyone else in the ground doesn't), maybe the technology wasn't working, but his observation on the foul still stands.
Thing is, he's looking at it. With the offside, he just doesn't see the flag and stops play when he sees it. With this, I'm full sure he sees the foul, decides it's not a free, and only when the ball goes in the net does he realise that maybe yer man is hurt. It's almost like he initially allowed play to go on on then as time went on thought "Actually, maybe I should have given a foul there", and then when the ball goes in the net he realises that he's screwed PAOK over and so gives the belated free-out.
I only saw the last half-hour of the game, but apparently the sending-off for the penalty was controversial too (the highlights are fairly blurred, but it's possible the ball hits the player on the line in the chest rather than on the arm)
The ball hit the PAOK player in the abdomen and it bounced up onto his arm, which was straight down by his side. It couldn't possibly have been a penalty.
AEK Athens won away tonight, against Sturm Graz. If Rovers don't pick up anything tomorrow. They'll be the only team to finish with no points.