Referee Andre Marriner missed something somewhere early in Saturday's match between Chelsea and Arsenal in England's Premier League.
In the game's 15th minute, Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made a diving save, a blatant hand ball in the penalty area, on a shot by Chelsea's Eden Hazard. Marriner awarded a penalty kick, which Hazard deposited in the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
Seconds before Hazard's spot kick, Marriner brandished a red card, not for Oxlade-Chamberlain, but for his teammate Kieran Gibbs who looked on incredulously.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was seen saying to Marriner 'it was me,' but to no avail.
Though the Premier League this season began using goal-line technology to sort out disputed plays on the goal line, there are no other provisions for using of video technology for other plays. In addition, moments after the incident an official at UEFA took to Twitter urging the Premier League to adopt the five-official system now being used by the sport's European governing body, which has rejected the use of video technology.
'With an additional assistant referee on the end line, referee would not have got that sending off wrong. Technology is not the answer,' Pedro Pinto, a UEFA spokesman, wrote on Twitter. 'More eye balls are the answer ... GLT (goal-line technology) helps with goal line decisions, but 5 officials system gives referee more angles of vision. It's not one vs the other.'
First-place Chelsea went on to score two more goals, taking a 4-0 lead at halftime. Chelsea completed the demolition with two more goals in the second half.
Over all this season, Arsenal has lost six games, three by one-sided scores in which it allowed 17 goals, half of its goals against total the entire 2013-14 season.
Posted by Unknown on Saturday, March 22, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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