Ref injustice! Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle.
Posted on October 3rd, 2010 | 96 Comments |
The performance was sound enough for us, we played well enough throughout the game and deserved something from the match, in my opinion anyway.
Referee Martin Atkinson though had an absolute shocker as he took control of the game this afternoon.
If his decision to award a penalty to Manchester City after Mike Williamson won the ball from Carlos Tevez, outside the box I hasten to add, was harsh then his decision not to award a penalty to the away side was ridiculous after Joleon Lescott took away the legs of Shola Ameobi in the City penalty area.
I don’t usually swear whilst writing ‘blogs, but we really did get the shitty end of the stick today, and the phrase ‘home ref’ should be attached to Atkinson’s performance at Eastlands and displayed to anyone who ever wonders quite what the phrase means.
The match was barely 3 minutes old when Newcastle were dealt the first blow of the afternoon. Hatem Ben Arfa picked up a serious injury as a result of a “tough but fair” (according to some) tackle by Nigel De Jong. TV replays were censored, but it didn’t look pretty as Ben Arfa lay striken on the Eastlands pitch needing Oxygen before being stretchered off and taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary with a suspected broken leg.
Newcastle didn’t let that faze them however and they kept City at bay quite easily in fairness. That changed in the 18th minute when Carlos Tevez chased a long ball over the top of the Newcastle defence. Mike Williamson got back to defend, slid in on Tevez and took the ball.
TV replays confirmed this was the case. In fact they also confirmed that the challenge was more than two-yards outside the box. Yet referee Martin Atkinson saw events differently and awarded the penalty without even consulting his assistant, who was on that side of the pitch aswell. Carlos Tevez blasted home the spot-kick to put the home side 1-0 up.
Newcastle pulled level just 6 minutes later through Jonas Gutierrez. The Argentine was recalled to the starting line-up today at the expense of Wayne Routledge, and he finally showed us what he can be capable of. Jonas sent a cross into the box which was partially cleared by the City defence. Unfortunately for them, Jonas ran onto the clearance and smashed the ball past Joe Hart and score his first top-flight goal for Newcastle in the process.
Newcastle continued to frustrate their opponents and looked the better side heading into the break, although the loss of Fabricio Coloccini will be of some concern to Chris Hughton. The City fans even vented their frustration at the half-time whistle by booing their team off.
The game continued in much the same vein in the second-half as Newcastle continued to look well worthy of the 1-1 scoreline. Roberto Mancini brought on Adebayor to beef up their attack, but it wasn’t him who was the game-changer.
The man who did change it was boyhood Newcastle fan Adam Johnson. Just three minutes after coming off the bench the former Middlesbrough winger and United trainee put the home side 2-1 up. I would personally question just what Jose Enrique was doing by ushering Johnson inside onto his stronger left-foot rather than trying to force him wide, but I guess that is kind of irrelevant now.
There was further anguish for Newcastle as Shola Ameobi was denied what looked to be a stonewall penalty. Joleon Lescott took the standing leg of Ameobi after the forward skinned him in the box, but amazingly that foul went un-noticed and Atkinson waved away the Newcastle United appeals.
I had convinced myself before the game that we were going to lose today, which we did, but the way that the game panned out has left me feeling disappointed that we have claimed no points today. We were definately worth a draw in my eyes, and it’s hard not to look towards the referee as being the deciding factor in the outcome.
My thoughts, and I’m sure all of our thoughts, go to Hatem Ben Arfa who looks likely to miss some months now. Just what that means with regard to the loan of the player will become clearer over time, but right now I just want to wish HBA all the best. Hopefully we will see him again at some point this season.
Howay the lad – For Hatty!
Man City – Joe Hart, Jerome Boateng, Kolo Toure, Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, James Milner, David Silva, Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure, Carlos Tevez.
Subs – Stuart Taylor, Dedryck Boyota, Patrick Viera, Adam Johnson, Roque Santa Cruz, Emanuel Adebayor, Jo.
Newcastle – Tim Krul, James Perch, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Jonas Gutierrez, Cheick Tiote, Joey Barton, Hatem Ben Arfa, Kevin Nolan, Shola Ameobi.
Subs – Ole Sodeberg, Ryan Taylor, Sol Campbell, Alan Smith, Wayne Routledge, Peter Lovenkrands, Andy Carroll.
Attendance – 46,067.
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
Money can`t buy you love, but it sure as h*l* can buy you referees…