Chelsea and Villa vs. Phil Dowd

While fans, players and managers have lambasted referee Phil Dowd for the way he called the Villa-Chelsea 4 all thriller on Boxing Day, it is apparent that the complaints are completely unjustified.

But how is that possible, after all we’ve seen him lambasted by journos and gaffers on television and in print? Well, it’s because nobody takes time to watch the ref. They make emotional judgments based on a few moments during the game; whereas, I watch the game and judge the ref. See for yourself as I breakdown every call and non-call (offsides excluded) made by Dowd in this highly charged match.

4’ – Paulo Ferreira hauls down Shaun Maloney, who has beaten him to the ball. While Ferreira did foul and Dowd made the right call, Ferreira argued.

9’ – Agbonlahor is called for a shirt tug on Essien deep in Chelsea territory. Essien has won the ball, but Olberg is closing down and Gabby is still on Essien’s trail. While there is territory for Essien to exploit, it is behind Dowd. Essien is running towards Dowd who calls the foul, which is immediately argued by Chelsea because they wanted advantage. While it should have been allowed, Dowd can’t see the space behind him and makes the proper call from his angle.

12’ – Laursen clatters into Pizarro in the box and a free kick is called. Villa argues, but while it is an iffy call in slow motion and in reflection, there is plenty of contact and there is nothing wrong with the call.

18’ – When Maloney puts a body on Kalou, Dowd plays advantage. He missed Kalou’s fist to Maloney’s face. This was dangerous but not calculated. Dowd (or more likely his linesman) should have seen this and cautioned if not yellowed Kalou.

19’ – Essien takes down a streaking Gabby in the midfield and is issued a yellow for a professional foul. It’s the proper call.

20’ – Reo-Coker fouls Kalou right outside of Villa’s box. It’s a good call and leads to a freekick.

22’ – Cole is fouled and Dowd calls it. This does not stop Ashley Cole from spitting vile at him.

22’ – Sheva fouls NRK, who becomes incensed by the foul. Shevchenko apologizes and Dowd calls it. He immediately yells at Reo-Coker to calm down and he walks away. He manages the situation properly and keeps tensions in check.

25’ – Shevchenko and Laursen bang heads on a fight for a ball in the air. Nobody is at fault and a drop ball is rewarded.

26’ – Reo-Coker fouls Ballack hard and is given a stern warning to calm him down. While this is the second time Dowd has had to talk to the Villa midfielder, the first time was after he had been fouled. So Dowd does the right thing to keep the game in check.

27’ – We see our first bad call by Dowd. Barry and Ballack tangle in the midfield. Ballack blatantly strikes out and hits Barry in the face. Dowd calls the foul on Barry for leg contact. This is a missed yellow that allows Ballack to continue to play recklessly. However, nothing results from the wrong decision.

29’ – Ashley Cole dives in the box and demands a penalty. It looked like a dive when it first happen, and upon further viewing it is most certainly a cardable offense for Cole, who isn’t even touched on the play. But Dowd does not call the foul.

45’ plus – For 19 minutes, there are no fouls and play is allowed to develop freely. There are three instances with niggly contact that Dowd overlooks, but he’s right to allow it as he shepherds this entertaining period by keeping himself out of spotlight. However, in the 48th, Zak Knight receives a red card and a penalty is awarded when he takes down Ballack in the box. I watched this over and over, and I think that the German captain made a meal of the contact to draw the penalty. But whatever he did, there was enough contact both with the arm and feet that Ballack’s dive would seem legitimate at full speed. Had he not called this, there would have been as much fuss as there is now. And to be honest, Collina would have probably called this. I think Dowd saw this as a foul and awarded the penalty justly from his perspective. As for the red card, if he saw the play as a foul then Zak Knight took down the last man and he has to be red carded. Villa fans may not like the call, but Dowd has done nothing wrong here. Ballack, however, has no class.

47’ – Ballack falls in the penalty box again. But this time, he clearly tripped over Laursen’s feet and Dowd makes no call.

48’ – In his own box, Gareth Barry takes a ball off his chest, near his shoulder. Fans call for a handball, which is quite obviously not. Dowd rightfully makes no call.

53’ – Dowd makes sure that Chelsea free kick, which was awarded for offside, is taken from the proper placement. It slows down Chelsea, but he is in the right to do this.

54’ – Reo-Coker takes out Essien’s feet. He is shown the yellow. This is the first questionable challenge (and that this was a foul is in no means questionable) NRK has put in since his warning and Dowd dutifully books him. He properly dealt with this.

56’ – Laursen tackles the ball from Pizarro right in front of Dowd. Laursen gets all ball, but Pizarro rolls around dramatically. Dowd makes no call.

57’ – Ashley Young tries to get through Alex and Ferreira in Chelsea’s box. They close down on him and his attempt to run on to his own through ball is stopped when the ball hits Ferreira in the midsection. Young calls for a handball, but Dowd sees it perfectly.

58’ – Carew clips Ashley Cole’s feet and a freekick is awarded.

60’ – Reo-Coker is fouled but comes away with the ball. Advantage is rightly played.

63’ – Ashley Cole take down by Carew, who is not happy, but the foul is obvious.

64’ – Kalou hits Carew with his arm in the face. This is now the 3rd errant arm contact that Dowd has allowed.

65’ – Joe Cole is expertly dispossessed by Bouma and rolls around like he was shot by a sniper. Dowd, like anyone with eyes, isn’t fooled.

68’ – Bouma is fouled by Joe Cole. Bouma miked it, but most referees would have called it and it does not affect play.

77’ – Another 10 minutes without any calls and it is break neck football. A foul is called on the edge of Chelsea’s area. Ashley Young is surrounded by Ferreira and Alex when the call is made. At first, it looks like a poor call, but after rewinding and focusing on Alex rather than Paulo, the Brazilian centerhalf is definitely guilty of stud contact on Young. This leads to the leveling goal.

80’ - Carvalho commits a horror challenge and is lucky to not have grossly injured Agbonlahor. He is given a straight red.

82’ – Throw-in given to Chelsea, even though linesman awarded it to Villa. Dowd waves it off because linesman is blocked by Ashley Cole when the ball goes off Gabby.

85’ – The freekick. This is the only bad call of the entire game. The angle we see the play is 180° opposite of Dowd’s view. It looks like Joe Cole is going down before he can even touch the ball. But after watching it 20-30 times, Cole is falling the minute it came off Curtis Davies to draw the kick. There is no body contact by Laursen and NRK doesn’t touch Joe Cole. Then they show the second angle, directly behind the play, and Cole’s dive is so egregious that he should be banned for 3 games in hindsight. Dowd made the wrong call, but due to the angle and the dirty tactics of the Englishman, he can’t be blamed.

89’ – Ashley Cole trips over the ball but demands a foul. None is given.

90’ (plus) – As Ashley Cole comes off the field, he pats his pectoral muscle as if that is where he had made contact with the ball on the goal line that led to his red card and a penalty. However, every replay shows the ball going off his arm. It may have inadvertently his arm, but intentions matter little on the goal line, as his arm most assuredly stopped the equalizing goal. And by doing so, the letter of the law says he has to go. Dowd absolutely got this one right.

As is evident, Dowd is guilt of only two things: not cautioning players for striking other players with their arms and being fooled by dishonest and disingenuous players. Otherwise, he called a near perfect game with only Bouma’s foul, on a play of no consequence, being his fault. That’s right, one call the entire game that he can be blamed for. Any other errors are due to angle or cheating. The freekick on the Cole dive was poor but his angle was blocked by Laursen. Ballack’s penalty was gamesmanship.

Meanwhile, there are almost a dozen non-fouls not called. Every other foul that was called was most assuredly just that: a foul. The sending-offs were proper by the letter of the law, and he consulted his linesman on all of them. He even allowed the game to flow when he could.

Good game Phil Dowd. I may be the only person that compliments you on your performance, but then again, I’m the only one that spent time analyzing your performance.

So go blame the dirty players on both sides who argue and niggle and cheat at every moment. Or the managers who are too conceited or afraid to blame themselves or their players for the cheapening of the game. And for God’s sake, stop spouting off nationalist propaganda about Englishman not diving: they go down quicker…..well I’ll leave that comparison to you.