Manchester United Penalty

The problem is that Manchester United keep getting these decisions, not just in the big games but also against the so called lesser lights of the Premiership. Who will forget the dreadful decision by Referee Mike Riley in 2004 when he gave a penalty against Arsenal at Old Trafford when Sol Campbell was penalised for fairly tackling Wayne Rooney. The score was nil nil at the time & this was the deciding decision & the end of Arsenal’s unbeaten run (49 Games). The season before Manchester United had been given another penalty in the last few minutes at Old Trafford with the score 0-0. Again this was a bad decision which followed hard on the heels of Patrick Vieira’s sending off for two pathetic yellows (this was the third Arsenal player to be sent off in the same number of matches against Manchester, read into that what you want?) Diego Forlan went down like a sack of potatoes under the most minimal contact from Martin Keown. The Referee was like a child in a sweet shop, he couldn’t wait to award the penalty. Justice was down however as Van Nistelrooy missed the penalty. All the press & TV could go on about afterwards was how the Arsenal players reacted after the missed penalty. Err, so let me see, you are being cheated by the ref not to mention your best player being sent off & you are not allowed to react? Talk about avoiding the real issue.

It’s funny but since Arsenal have been overtaken by Chelsea & Manchester & at present are not a title threat to Manchester, these decisions against Arsenal have declined, well apart from last season , again at old Trafford when William Gallas was very harshly penalised for handball & the ref gave Manchester United another penalty which got them out of jail after they had gone behind in the 48^th minute. What really angers me is that these decisions never happen at the other end of the pitch.

I remember in January 2005 when Manchester United Played Tottenham at Old Trafford (again) and Spurs had a goal not given that was so far over the line that it was embarrassing. Only at Old Trafford. The predictability of it all makes me feel sick.

Why don’t our beloved media make more of it? Simple, because it is not in their interest to highlight it too much as they (like the FA) make a lot of money out of Manchester United. Our world famous press, who are really good at exposing third rate celebrities for such trivia activities such as getting drunk & taking a bit of weed, seem to go missing when it comes to exposing football corruption, I mean it is obvious that officials are bias towards Manchester United & that something is seriously wrong.

I feel that Manchester United’s reign in the Premier league over the last decade has not really been earned through their own merits but with massive help from the officials. During this period many bias decisions have gone in United’s favour in order for them to turn not only games but seasons around against their rivals, especially Arsenal. Why? Because it is in a lot of peoples interest for Manchester United to keep on winning as a lot of money is made from the thousands of part time United supporters who watch them on TV. This is of course only my humble opinion but to me it seems obvious.

This Wednesday Manchester United and Arsenal Meet again but this time in the champions League Semi final 1^st leg. I suspect there will be more bad decisions but only in favour of one team. Can anybody seriously remember when a really bad decision went against the team from Old Trafford?

Just for the record I don’t support a Premiership team but I am really pissed off with what I consider blatant cheating, not that any of the above bears any relation to Alex Fergusson constantly attacking ref’s, both verbally in the media and in their changing rooms before and during games. When Crystal Place Chairman Simon Jordan dared to complain about this he was fined by the FA for bringing the game into disrepute. Unbelievable, about time someone brought the FA to boot for the same charge.

Don’t hold your breath methinks.

Douglas martin

27^th April 2009