The Officials Had a Bad Game
The accusation from the Manchester based global support franchise’s manager and his assistant following the 1-2 home defeat, was that officiating had cost them.
The argument, according to Ferguson and the fella he sends to speak to the BBC, is that Didier Drogba was in an offside position when he received Kalou’s through-pass for this 79th minute drive putting Chelsea 2-0 up.
The verdict? Correct. He was at least a yard offside and thus the goal should not have been allowed. The linesman made a mistake and on this occasion the home team didn’t benefit.
Onwards then we go into this horrific world of officials getting things wrong. Park, fouled in the area by Zhirkov should have won a penalty – they say.
The verdict? It would have been harsh, but seen them given (more often than not at Old Trafford). That’s football, though.
Anelka, fouled in the area by Neville, should have a penalty – we say.
The verdict? It would have been less harsh if given, but equally again I’ve seen them not given (more often than not at Old Trafford). Again, that's football.
Crikey, this picture we’re painting shows quite clearly the world is an unjust place for Manchester United when it comes to the benefits of officials and dodgy decisions at Old Trafford. Some serious ink is on order as we speak to re-write some pretty hefty conclusions arrived at by millions of opposition fans, media and pundits alike to the contrary.
Is the picture finished though? As we stand we have United wrongly conceding a second goal. So it’s 1-0, then, or maybe 2-1 depending on the result of a penalty decision each.
The next goal is pretty important, as it brings the valiant and fair-playing boys in red level in an honest world.
Nani cuts in, Ferreira fails to block off the cross, and there is the recently fit Federico Macheda, famous already for his late contributions to United’s cause, to send it into the net and bring the baying crowd (in various accents and languages) to their feet as the home team draw level.
That’s in a fair world where Drogba was offside, and both penalties were awarded – right?
Wrong. Because Mecheda scored via his hand. Some news agencies report it as a ‘hint’ of handball, others as ‘handball’ and some simply don’t mention it (the Official Manchester United website, for instance).
The reality is for anyone who has actually seen the goal – it was hand ball. So in this super fair world Alex Ferguson and Baldrick or whatever his name is live in, United lost a game of football.
The argument then from the Surrey/Salford club is that really, all things being equal, they should get penalty appeals that should be turned down for the opposition. They should get lawfully wrong goals disallowed against them but allowed for them.
Is this a surprise? Of course not, we’ve seen it year in year out from them. The reason really for giving it some time is just to remind everyone that in a game of football in which officials got two decisions wrong against each side – Chelsea emerged the victors away at the home of their title rivals.
Well done Chelsea, well done Carlo. This is a battle won but by no means the war, but you send our excellent away support home very, very happy today.
For those United fans reading – you know I speak the truth. Suck it up. It’s called Karma.