16 March 2008

Manchester City 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur




Even my four year old son predicted a Tottenham win, and he doesn't know that City have not beaten Spurs in Manchester since 1994. Spurs fans may feel aggrieved that their equalising "goal" late in the game was annulled for an offside, given that the offside Berbatov was not involved in the play. But the linesman (sorry, assistant referee) made a good call - Berbatov was in front of the goalmouth so he did attract defenders toward him.
(Also aggrieved was Robbie Keane who childishly kicked up a fuss when he was substituted by coach Ramos in the second half. It wouldn't surprise me if he were sanctioned in some way by the club for this.)
The current confusion with the offside law is because the rule is confusing. The old version of this law where a defending team got a free kick when any player of a team in an offside position was deemed to be interfering with play was far more sensible and led to far fewer contentious calls by the referees. FIFA should rethink the offside law, as well as allow the use of technology in its implementation.

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