There is also an argument for the penalty, though it is not as egregious as everyone makes it out to be. Messi was playing the ball (with a bit of a heavy touch) back out of the box just before the contact, and when he goes down, he is outside of the box. It is definitely close, but I think the ref could be forgiven for not granting a penalty in that instance.
In my opinion, the red for Van Persie was way out of line with the spirit of the game, even if an argument can be made that it follows the letter of the law. Good refs try to keep the game under control while trying to stay out of the outcome themselves. A verbal warning there would have sufficed.
All that said, Arsenal still gave up two more goals after that and put in a miserable performance for the day, so while the red was a shame, Barcelona probably deserved to go through.
your talking about a ref deciding a game when Barcelona already had an away goal taken away via an offsides call on Messi that was bogus? id say that about levels it
Agreed. I turned the match off after the red card. Everybody already knew what was coming, and that just confirmed it. Referee absolutely ruined the latter half of the match.
This may have been one sided, but with a full side Arsenal probably does enough to go through. I hate it when refs decide matches on calls they could easily let go. Maybe Van Persie heard the whistle maybe he didn’t but his shot was soon enough after either way for the ref to keep his hand away from the cards. At that time Barca needed two goals to advance and sure enough up a man they get what they need. Refs need to have more restraint sometimes, there is no joy in watching matches from a neutral perspective when it is decided by means other than the play on the pitch, and Arsenal fans probably feel a bit hard done after this result.
I wonder how much spit needed to be wiped off his screen while recapping that one.
Agreed. So annoying.
I came here to say this. That was moderately irritating.
It’s a fair criticism.
There is also an argument for the penalty, though it is not as egregious as everyone makes it out to be. Messi was playing the ball (with a bit of a heavy touch) back out of the box just before the contact, and when he goes down, he is outside of the box. It is definitely close, but I think the ref could be forgiven for not granting a penalty in that instance.
In my opinion, the red for Van Persie was way out of line with the spirit of the game, even if an argument can be made that it follows the letter of the law. Good refs try to keep the game under control while trying to stay out of the outcome themselves. A verbal warning there would have sufficed.
All that said, Arsenal still gave up two more goals after that and put in a miserable performance for the day, so while the red was a shame, Barcelona probably deserved to go through.
your talking about a ref deciding a game when Barcelona already had an away goal taken away via an offsides call on Messi that was bogus? id say that about levels it
Wow, that really is annoying. As is the forced lisp on ‘Barthalona’…
Little annoys me more than an announcer doing highlights, shouting as if he is watching it live. Ugh.
barca owned. but MAN, that red card was a load of crap!
Agreed. I turned the match off after the red card. Everybody already knew what was coming, and that just confirmed it. Referee absolutely ruined the latter half of the match.
This may have been one sided, but with a full side Arsenal probably does enough to go through. I hate it when refs decide matches on calls they could easily let go. Maybe Van Persie heard the whistle maybe he didn’t but his shot was soon enough after either way for the ref to keep his hand away from the cards. At that time Barca needed two goals to advance and sure enough up a man they get what they need. Refs need to have more restraint sometimes, there is no joy in watching matches from a neutral perspective when it is decided by means other than the play on the pitch, and Arsenal fans probably feel a bit hard done after this result.
Such an incredibly one-sided game.
That Messi goal was just… incredible. That man has ice in his veins.