A&H

Sunderland - Oxford

Tealeaf

Lighting the darkest hour
Staff member
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Ill tempered affair by all accounts with accusations of the Oxford goalkeeper being head butted in the tunnel at half time, and counter-allegations from the home camp.

2 incidents of note.

Red card (0:35 on); goes for a second caution as ball was there to play but the way he goes in, could’ve been a red in its own right.

Second goal (0:55) onwards. Oxford player seems to injure himself in giving away the free kick. Quickly taken and goal scored. This led directly to Oxford manager getting binned (presumably for OFFINABUS) and he had plenty to say afterward about “duty of care”etc (clutching at straws IMO).

Thoughts on that incident?
 
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I think the injury - free kick - goal, to me it looks like the Oxford player is about to get up, and unfortunately the benefit/advantage is to Sunderland, its not a head injury and play restarts as player goes back down so personally, I can't see an issue there.

Granted it's not great for match control, but as I say, the benefit is for the other team and it doesn't look a serious injury, but the fact he can get to his knees before going back down says to me play should go on...
 
Second caution instead of straight red looks just about right to me in the first incident.

The second incident, I can see why the Oxford manager is unhappy. You’ve got play stopped in a dangerous area and a player down injured. There’s a couple of reasons why the referee could have not allowed the quick FK to be taken, firstly the Oxford player injured and second that the FK was taken from the wrong place. Safe refereeing says, blow the whistle, bring the FK back to the right place and allow treatment to take place.
 
Free kick is taken 6-yards from the correct spot, love a quick free kick but it's things like this that make quick free kicks controversial. That said it's always nice when a bit of attempted gamesmanship gets punished.
 
Free kick is taken 6-yards from the correct spot, love a quick free kick but it's things like this that make quick free kicks controversial. That said it's always nice when a bit of attempted gamesmanship gets punished.
I don't disagree. If that was the sole issue then I'd be onboard but the duty of care is a red herring for me. Also, if it had come to nothing we wouldn't be talking about it. How often are 'slow' free kicks taken from the wrong place around the half-way line.
 
I don't disagree. If that was the sole issue then I'd be onboard but the duty of care is a red herring for me. Also, if it had come to nothing we wouldn't be talking about it. How often are 'slow' free kicks taken from the wrong place around the half-way line.

A free kick taken in the wrong place on the halfway line is very different to one in the area where this offence took place, where you want the free kick on the blade of grass of the foul.

Looking at the body language of the referee, he’s looked down at the player and almost looking to assess to see whether he needs treatment or not, then realised that Sunderland have taken the free kick quickly. Whilst the ball ends up in the net, if he blows up then, with the ball out wide, he’s got a get out clause. Sunderland might have a bit of a moan, but it doesn’t make it onto the highlights reel!
 
I don't see a straight red in the tackle. But a clear yellow and one if don't give, you run a chance of losing match control.

The QFK, no issues for me either. Distance was no issue and I don't think anyone ever complained about it. The only time I make a fuss about distance is if they take a direct shot at goal or pass to someone in a GSO. The only consequence for this was the defence did not get a chance to organise which they didn't have at the time of foul. So balance was nicely restored with the QFK, allbeit it was not from the exact spot (where players were in the ground)
On injury, at the time the kick was taken, it looked like all the defender was doing was to complain. He went back to ground after the ball was in play which was too late. This was not a serious injury and for me the balance between duty of care and duty to fairness would have meant to allow play to continue.
 
Devils advocate: Excessive force, not just a “hard” challenge?

Personally I’d go yellow here in this instance, as the player is walking irrespective. But I throw it out there as a legitimate consideration.
 
Reckless tackle for me. No problem with the quick free kick either - if the Oxford player wants to fall on the floor then that's his prerogative, but I wouldn't be stopping the game for him!
 
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