As I stand nervously next to my couch, waiting for the final whistle to blow, Ramires takes the ball on the edge of the penalty box area, challenges by West Brom’s Steven Reid, barges into him and he blatantly dives. Referee Andre Mariner, who positioned himself in a perfect viewing position, however thinks the other way and signs towards the spot. Eden Hazard steps up, cool as a cucumber waits for Myhill to dive the other way, calmly slots the ball in the back of the net. One point earned by the Blues at Stamford Bridge, despite a lacklusture performance, on the other way, the Baggies are robbed off two points thus denying them what would have been a famous win.
West Brom manager Steve Clarke was visibly frustrated after the game, however decided to choose his words carefully. As The Telegraph pointed out,
“A bad decision has cost us two points,” he said. “I’m flabbergasted at the decision, I can’t believe he gave it, but I can’t change it. I’ve been in the game a long time and I knew he [Ramires] was already on the way down before anyone was near him.
“The referee has to be 100 per cent sure. How he can be 100 per cent sure is beyond me. It was not the correct decision.” Asked whether he believed it was a dive, Clarke said: “You can put a label on it if you want, but the onus is on the referee to make the right decision. He didn’t.”
However as expected Blues manager, a tired looking Jose Mourinho claimed it was a “clear penalty” and accused West Brom profiting from poor decisions from the referee. Yet another dive, yet another poor decision from the referee, one player yet again in the centre of controversies and yet again the integrity of the game being questioned.
Chelsea despite all their summer transfers haven’t yet stomped their authority on the game. Mourinho hasn’t got his tactics right, with all of his experience, was on the brink of his first home loss. There has to be some credibility in the game, with the manager being poles apart as far as maintaining the biasedness of the circumstances. Ramires however defended himself, as expected, claiming he lost his balance under the circumstances. But if his likes are awarded penalty, we would probably see 2 or 3 penalties in every game.
Players must be given the threat of retrospective punishment for such offences involving coming together which destroy the spirit and fairness of the game. In fact, Mourinho must be the one to take a stand. But when ‘The Special One’ decided to side with the fact that it was the correct decision, he eventually took the stand that light body challenges are not to be accepted which would essentially make football a ‘touch-me-not’ game partaking some of the fun.
GIF Via 101Greatgoals.com
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