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 Monday
15 August 2005 By Paul Mosley
There were talking points aplenty in United's season opener at Highbury yesterday, and most of them centered on referee Steve Bennett. Half an hour into yesterday's game, Jermaine Jenas went into a challenge with Arsenal's Gilberto Silva. The Newcastle midfielder got a foot on the ball, but was adjudged to have committed an offence of serious foul play and was shown the red card. The first thing to stress is that, IN THIS INCIDENT, referee Steve Bennett is absolved of any blame, and I know I will be absolutely crucified for making that statement, but bear with me. From the various camera angles (both TV and photographs), it was clear that unless Bennett was able to see through both Robert Pires and Scott Parker, he was unable to make the call (poorly positioned, you may argue).
Since Bennett did not see the incident, he HAS to take the advice of Holbrook, that is why the assistant referee is there. Holbrook had a side-on view of the incident, and was the only official who had a clear sight of it. Law 12, International FA Board Decision
4 reads
'A tackle, which endangers the safety of an opponent, must be sanctioned as Serious Foul Play'. Officials are also advised that 'Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of Serious Foul Play. From Holbrook’s view (which sadly no camera angles allow us to see), he would most likely have seen Jenas clatter into Gilberto, Gilberto’s leg crumble, and zero contact with the ball. Therefore, he has seen Jenas lunge at an opponent in challenging for the ball, and because Gilberto has come out of it pretty badly, he believed Jenas was endangering the safety of an opponent. Holbrook certainly had the angle which made the incident look the worst, but he has enough evidence at his disposal to back up his decision. Since the incident, having canvassed the opinion of various referees, the opinion seems to be fairly split between awarding a yellow card, and awarding a red card. My personal opinion is that the challenge was reckless rather than with excessive force, and a yellow card would have been sufficient for Jenas. A red card, although technically correct, was harsh. On Saturday, Ivan Campo of Bolton Wanderers was not shown a card of any description for a horror tackle on Aston Villa's Gavin McCann, far worse than Jenas' challenge, which shows a clear lack of consistency in top level refereeing. Another 2 challenges on Saturday (by Darren Ambrose and Paul Dickov) were also far more malicious than Jenas’, and were rightly punished with red cards. Another point worth talking about was Kieron Dyer very nearly escaping the attention of Philippe Senderos, only to be pulled down by the Arsenal centre-back. Let’s first make it clear that an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity was not denied, therefore Senderos cannot be sent off. However, a yellow card should have been shown. In the second half, Stephen Carr committed the same offence on Thierry Henry, and again no card was shown, so at least he was consistent for both teams in this respect. The final talking point was Bennett’s decision to award Arsenal a penalty, just as they were getting increasingly desperate in pursuit of a goal against our 10 men. This decision was down to Bennett, and Bennett alone. Freddie Ljungberg went down in the penalty area under a challenge from Charles N’Zogbia, and inevitably Bennett pointed to the spot. At full speed watching on TV, it looked like a penalty to me. Watching replays, however, I was not so convinced. One angle showed minimal contact (at best) between Ljungberg and N’Zogbia, indeed Ljungberg seemed to kick the ground and fall over of his own accord. Another angle, however, suggested N’Zogbia kicked Ljungberg. Bennett decided on the latter and awarded the penalty, and a clearly dejected N’Zogbia fell to the ground. This was a very tough call for Bennett to make. Because my 1st instinct was to give a penalty (and I have spoken to other referees who thought the same), I think he can (just) have the benefit of the doubt this time. The key incidents of the game certainly all went against Newcastle, and probably cost us what would have been a brilliantly-earned point at Highbury. We must hope the old adage of decisions ‘evening themselves out’ over a season will prove correct. © Paul Mosley
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Steve Bennett Not To Blame For JJ's Red Card
