Premier League Review Week 14

Manchester City 3-1 Southampton         Referee: Roger East
East found himself at the center of controversy after he missed two clear handballs that prevented goals.
20th Minute: City's Fernandinho beats the Southampton keeper with a powerful strike, only have his shot blocked by Steven Davis' outstretched arm. East doesn't call a foul, but he should've called a penalty and sent off Long for DOGSO.
61st Minute: Southampton's Shane Long gets a volley to head towards the goal, when Fernandinho knocks the ball out with his arm. Again, East doesn't see the infraction, and I think this should've been a penalty and a yellow card for Fernandinho.

Sunderland 2-0 Stoke City                      Referee: Mike Dean
Dean once again found himself facing criticism after a questionable dismissal of a Stoke player.
47th Minute: Stoke Captain Ryan Shawcross is already booked when he makes a sliding challenge on Duncan Watmore, appearing to win the ball cleanly. Dean sees this challenge as a foul that stopped a promising attack, and shows Shawcross a second yellow, which is unfortunately an incorrect decision.

Liverpool 1-0 Swansea City                   Referee: Anthony Taylor
Taylor himself didn't have a big decision to make, but his linesman had to deal with serious criticism over his decision on a handball that led to Liverpool's only goal of the match.
61st Minute: Jordan Ibe's cross appears to hit the semi-tucked arm of Swansea's Neil Taylor, which AR Simon Beck sees as a penalty and informs the referee Taylor, who points to the spot. Swansea were upset over the fact that Neil Taylor couldn't have done anything to avoid the ball hitting his arm, since he was so close to Ibe at the time of the cross. However, I agree with the linesman, since Neil Taylor could have easily fully tucked his arm to avoid contact.

Bournemouth 3-3 Everton                                      Referee: Kevin Friend
Leicester City 1-1 Manchester United                   Referee: Craig Pawson
Crystal Palace 5-1 Newcastle                                 Referee: Paul Tierney
Aston Villa 2-3 Watford                                         Referee: Lee Mason
Tottenham 0-0 Chelsea                                           Referee: Michael Oliver
West Ham United 1-1 West Bromwich Albion      Referee: Martin Atkinson
Norwich City 1-1 Arsenal                                       Referee: Jonathan Moss
These seven referees all had strong performances with nothing to go in depth on. Nice work by them and their crews.

My apologies for not publishing much recently. I'll try to do more in December.

UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifying Playoffs Leg 1 Reports

Norway 0-1 Hungary                              Referee: Mark Clattenburg (England)
Clattenburg and his crew were pretty good overall, but I think AAR Jonathan Moss may have missed a hold by a Hungary player in the box in the 56th minute. Otherwise, it was a solid performance, though I do wonder why Moss, who isn't a FIFA referee, was assigned to an important playoff match.

Bosnia & Herzegovina 1-1 Ireland         Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
It was a commendable performance from Brych and his crew, who had an almost perfect game in extremely foggy circumstances in Bosnia. The vision must have been poor for Brych and his crew, which makes a good performance that much more impressive. Nothing to go in depth on from this match.

Sweden 2-1 Denmark                              Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)
Rizzoli was the first referee to call a penalty during the qualifiers, and I agree with his decision
49th Minute: Denmark's Thomas Kahlenberg trips up Emil Forsberg on the edge of the area. Rizzoli was in great position to see the infraction and points to the spot. I agree with this decision, since there was clear contact by Kahlenberg on Forsberg's ankle.

Ukraine 2-0 Slovenia                               Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)
Eriksson had an excellent performance in Ukraine, showing great skill in man management especially. Nothing to go in depth on from a quiet match overall.

Leg 2 Reports coming tomorrow!            

Alberto Undiano Mallenco is our October Referee of the Month

Mallenco

Alberto Undiano Mallenco was named our October Referee of the Month primarily based on his performance in PSV Eindhoven-VFL Wolfsburg, in which he did an excellent job managing the came and keeping things under control. Mallenco has also seen some big league appointments this year, and is a leading candidate to be appointed for El Classico.

Premier League Review Week 11: Stroud shows red in rare BPL match

Watford 2-0 West Ham United                    Referee: Keith Stroud
Stroud is fighting for a promotion next season and things are going well for him so far.
84th Minute: West Ham's James Collins comes in with a hard late challenge from behind on Odion Ighalo. Stroud shows Collins a straight red and I agree due to how unnecessary the foul by Collins was. He seemed to have no intention of getting the ball and every intention of taking down Ighalo.

Stroud shows Collins the red card after a brutal foul

Manchester City 2-1 Norwich City              Referee: Robert Madley
Madley was criticized for his shaky derby performance last week, but rebounded well this week with 2 correct penalty decisions.
88th Minute: Man City summer signing Raheem Sterling takes a shot after he wins a loose ball from an out of position Norwich keeper John Ruddy. Norwich's Russell Martin has no choice but to stop the ball from going into the net with his arm. Madley sees the infraction and correctly calls a penalty and sends Martin off.
96th Minute: Sterling is again on the ball when he is hacked down in the box by Robbie Brady. The contact was clear and left Madley with no choice but to point to the spot.

West Bromwich Albion 2-3 Leicester City Referee: Anthony Taylor
Taylor called one penalty in this match, but I unfortunately have to disagree with his decision.
83rd Minute: Leicester's Nathan Dyer appears to make a clean challenge on Callum McManaman in the box, but Taylor deems that Dyer made contact with McManaman and whistles for a penalty kick. When I see the play on replay, I just don't see how there was enough contact to warrant a penalty.

Southampton 2-0 Bournemouth                   Referee: Craig Pawson
Pawson had one big call to make in this South Coast Derby, and I think he got it right.
78th Minute: Southampton's Victor Wanyama is already on a yellow when he hacks down Lee Tomlin near the box. Pawson sees the foul shows Wanyama a second yellow, which makes sense given the positioning of the foul as well as the rough nature of it.

Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester United         Referee: Mike Jones
Newcastle 0-0 Stoke City                             Referee: Roger East
Swansea City 0-3 Arsenal                            Referee: Kevin Friend
Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool                                  Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Everton 6-2 Sunderland                                Referee: Andre Marriner
Tottenham 3-1 Aston Villa                           Referee: Mike Dean
These six all had quiet games with not much controversy. Nice work by them and their crews.