Manchester United's victory over Arsenal this weekend was marred by some decisions that could have some lasting repercussions on the outcome of this year's English Premier League title.
The referee, Mike Dean, was consistent, and to be fair he got most of the decisions right, but where he got it all wrong was the decision to send Arsene Wenger to the stands.
A referee can have a stellar performance and make 100 correct decisions, but once he makes one mistake, he is crucified and remembered for that decision.
Right or Wrong
Wenger was sent to the stands for immaturely kicking a water bottle following Arsenal's equalizer being correctly ruled out for offsides.
Every manager has the responsibility to act like a role model to his players, and to not react distastefully to a call going against their team. There are ways to make your feelings felt, and kicking a water bottle is going a little overboard.
It was the fourth official, who has the duty to keep things under control in the technical areas, decision and judgment that Wenger to did enough to warrant an early shower. But what followed his recommendation was a bit of a comedy.
At first, Wenger did not realize that he was sent off and politely went back to the visitor's dugout, but when he realized that he was sent off, he walked around the rail and stood in front of the cheering United supporters.
What should have happened is that the referee should have spoken to Wenger directly before he made the decision to send him off. A lot of the drama that followed could have been prevented.
Penalty or Not
A lot has been said about the penalty decision that Dean gave to United, and the one he did not give to Arsenal. He awarded United a penalty in the second half that allowed them to get back into the match, but he turned away a penalty cry from Arsenal in the first half.
Darren Fletcher foolishly went to ground to tackle Andrei Arshavin, but in fairness to the Scot he got the ball first.
However, he did make contact with the Arsenal player, but football is a physical game and contact is to be expected especially on the follow through of a tackle. It is all about where the eyes of the player are, and as you can tell, Fletcher only had eyes for the ball, and was not at all reckless in the challenge. It was a correct decision by Dean.
United's penalty was a bit clearer cut, but Arsenal have reasons and the right to complain about it.
Contact was definitely made when Wayne Rooney burst into the Arsenal penalty box and was then taken down by an onrushing Manuel Almunia.
Where Arsenal might complain is that Rooney's touch was a bit heavy and he was never going to catch up with the ball. There are also replays that Rooney might have been going down before he was ever touched by Almunia, but that is splitting hairs because it really looked as though he was bracing himself for the challenge.
Dean was correct in the decision because Almunia had no chance of getting to the ball and made serious contact with the player.
Diving or Tough Tackling
Wenger has called basically called a United a team of cheaters for their tough tackling against his players, but one his players tried to deceive the referee by simulating a foul.
Wenger said that United played "anti-football" and committed way too many fouls that prevented Arsenal players from being able to play their free-flowing football. Lets take you back to last season whenever Patrice Evra touched the ball he was wiped out by an Arsenal player, but when the shoe is on the other foot people tend to not like it.
Sir Alex Ferguson is one the greatest football tacticians of all-time, and you can rest assure that he most certainly told Darren Fletcher to not let Arsenal get a kick or a stranglehold on the critical midfield battle.
Fletcher was sent out there to disrupt Arsenal's passing game, and he earned man of the match honors for his tireless efforts.
Emanuel Eboue on the other hand was not deemed a cheater by the Arsenal boss, when went down trying to win Arsenal a free-kick in the United half. Eboue pretended that he was fouled by Evra when replays clearly showed that there was no contact made by the United defender, but Wenger sees no issue with that.
Although Arsenal are one of the most illustrious sides in Europe, Arsenal are about to become branded as cheats by the footballing world for their constant diving.
Even though Manchester United were not at their glittering best, they still showed that with grit and determination to pull one over one of their title rivals.
