Wayne Rooney got away with doing a bad thing on Saturday and scored as his team won. David Luiz got away with doing a bad thing after scoring on Tuesday and his team won. I think it’s a bad thing to constantly criticise referees but I’m going to do that bad thing because a season of iffy decisions just goes on and on.
Three days before Tuesday’s Stamford Bridge clash of Chelsea and Manchester United, Rooney’s headline making was not for his goal at Wigan but for his actions over an hour earlier. He was not penalised sufficiently for it and was free to play on Tuesday and score a great goal in what, some officiating apart, was a thoroughly enjoyable game. It was almost as if the fact that the two teams were surely not going up against each other in a straight battle for the title, as has happened so much in recent years, helped it become much more of an attacking and enthralling spectacle, rather than a cagey bore.
Rooney had a huge part to play in the excitement of the game as he was involved in many of the incidents that will be talked about. That was also the case on Saturday, when the failure of Mark Clattenburg to send him off did not sit well with Roberto Martiez, who will take little consolation in the player's best supporting actor role at the Bridge.
And he has plenty to argue about given the fact that the striker received no punishment after his elbow and James McCarthy’s head got to know each other. Wigan of course did get a free, the rules saying that if the referee acted on an incident then no further action can be taken - and the official stood by his decision when the FA reviewed the matter. That is to say, the way the rules are set up means Rooney essentially got away scot free.
I’m not sure what Mark Clattenburg saw, but surely if he saw what the TV replays made clear then the player would have been punished properly at the time. This incident in particular has seen calls for an independent citer, as in rugby, the ‘get out clause’ that football authorities are unwilling to impose upon their referees. It is food for thought in a season where Rooney and England team-mate Steven Gerrard have both escaped censure for such incidents (Gerrard clashed with Sunderland’s Danny Welbeck in September).
Wigan had to play on against eleven men and, despite keeping Edwin Van der Sar young as they forced the Dutchman into several great saves with their natural willingness to attack the Red Devils, they were worn down in the end and succumbed to a 4-0 defeat and the unwanted position of last place in the league. Rooney played his part in that with a goal and an assist, while Javier Hernandez’s clinical prowess in front of goal was the real difference for as long as the game remained in the balance.
On to Tuesday! I said it was no cagey bore between United and Chelsea, but even those cagey bores have had controversies and Tuesday’s game had them in abundance. Rooney was free to play so Chelsea had to lump that, though David Luiz would take to lumping him. Luiz looks a classy addition to the Chelsea team and his first goal for the club, having beaten Fernando Torres to the punch, was an excellent – if badly defended – strike. However, after scoring it the Brazilian took on the role of trying to avenge Wigan and McCarthy as two flash points with Rooney, as well as a clash with Hernandez flared up.
He should have received a second yellow card when – after going through the back of Rooney shortly before - he tripped United’s good, bad and ugly striker and got away scot free. Fergie was purple with rage, while Carlo Ancelotti quickly pulled the old switcheroo to ensure his team retained their full compliment.
Then another moment of massive controversy! The penalty; Smalling on Zhirkov. It is hard to see how the defender could have gotten out of the way, while the Russian was looking for it. There is no two ways about it. This was another bad call by Martin Atkinson and it decided the match. Nemanja Vidic had to go later on, but one right does not correct several wrongs.
Looking at all the wrong decisions over the few days, how much would have been different if all the right decisions had been made? United would likely still have beaten Wigan, if not by four. Rooney would be banned for Tuesday and could not have given United the lead so maybe Chelsea would still have won even if they had not been given such a soft penalty. Or maybe the results would have been completely different and other bad decisions would have been made instead.
That talk is of couse pointless. Things cannot be changed, but it would just be nice to go through one weekend of games without one team or other having just cause to complain. There were bad decisions at Newcastle and Stoke as well, below the top stories of Chelsea and United. These are not terrible referees, but the pressure on them is so high these days that what help can be given to them should and if that means an overhaul of the laws then so be it. Let’s talk about two teams of players and subs after games, not one team of officials.
As for Wigan, they must forget Rooney and United now. They never get any points against them anyway. Martinez’s men have ten games left to fight with the rest for Premier League survival and the battle looks like it will be an intense one. The Latics could do with a win very soon as three-point hauls will be needed to stay the pace in this race now, though it is Manchester City away next for them.
The other sides beginning with W all had decent weekends. West Bromwich Albion came from behind for the second weekend in a row to get a point at Stoke on Monday and would have won it had Asmir Begovic not performed heroics in goal for Stoke in the latter stages. Roy Hodgson’s men snuck back out of the bottom three with the result, having sunk in there over the weekend. He knows though that to stay out of there, those three-pointers are what his Baggies need to bag.
Monday’s draw came on the back of their stalemate with neighbours Wolves a week earlier. Mick McCarthy was gutted to lose two points in that game late on, and there was no way they were going to do so again once they took the lead against Blackpool on Saturday.
They went on to run rings around a Seasiders side, who lost their discipline and who are really beginning to feel the heat. Jamie O’Hara has been a brilliant loan signing for McCarthy and Wolves, scoring against both West Brom and Blackpool and being a genuine authority figure at the heart of a team who are at last getting the results against the small teams as well as the big ones. Sylvain Ebanks-Blake's introduction then gave their goal difference a very rare boost.
Blackpool’s lop-sided (in terms of chances) win against Tottenham Hotspur last midweek was the biggest result of their season to date as it just gave them a leg up as the W teams and the rest fight for survival. The suspension of Charlie Adam was evident on Saturday though and now they will lose DJ Campbell for three games. You feel it is going to get very tight for Ollie’s army.
West Ham played like they were another team on Sunday as they jumped off the bottom with a deserved 3-1 win to bring a recently revived Liverpool down to earth with a bang. Reports say that Scott Parker could barely walk the day before the game but didn't he run on Sunday? He ran the game; he scored a super goal and once again was at the heart of the good side of his team.
Recent signing Demba Ba also continues to look an important player in the battle for salvation, while Thomas Hitzlsperger has made a confident return from injury, and you would not bet against the Hammers escaping the clutches of the bottom three now, though they still have plenty of big opponents to play. What they have to do is keep moving forward after Sunday’s great win. Too often this term they have responded to one great result with a stinker when next they play.
Elsewhere, Jermaine Beckford’s reputed determination is really beginning to pay off and he was the matchwinner for Everton as they got three important points against Sunderland; Ashley Young showed why so many managers supposedly want his signature as Aston Villa raced away from luckless Blackburn in the second half; and Ryan Taylor returned from a long-term injury only to incur a three-game ban as he was sent off for a very poor challenge in Newcastle and Bolton’s 1-1 draw.
Gareth Barry, meanwhile, says Manchester City can no longer win the title after their 1-1 draw at home to Fulham on Sunday. He’s not wrong.
Finally, well done to Birmingham City for beating the odds and the Gunners in the Carling Cup final on Sunday.
The winner was fortunate for them, and unfortunate for the Gunners, but the Blues' approach to the game was tremendous from start to finish and all over the park. Every single one of their side deserved their medal. Commiserations to Arsenal, but they will have many more days.
Team of the week - PREMIER LEAGUE ONLY - (3-4-3):
Asmir Begovic (Stoke City); Ronald Zubar (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Brede Hangeland (Fulham); Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Scott Parker (West Ham United), Jamie O’Hara (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Ramires (Chelsea); Jermaine Beckford (Everton), Javier Hernandez (Manchester United), Demba Ba (West Ham United).