Aren't pens awarded for deliberate acts that gain an advantage, or has the word deliberate been dropped officially? I know that pundits have a very different view of the laws than the law book. ... he's touched he ' has'to go down etc. And their rabid babbling may have brainwashed us into thinking otherwise.
No, the only foul that has to be deliberate is handball, you can foul a player even if you didn't mean to. The Watford defender was very unfortunate yesterday, he clearly slipped and ended up sliding in front of Lennon and tripping him up. I wouldn't say he was careless, reckless or using excessive force so on that note it wasn't a foul. However "impedes and opponent with contact" is also a foul so possible that the ref gave it for that.
Or anyone who knows the rules on these two :
- Lennon pen yesterday. OK, looks like the lad slipped, but does that make a difference? He still took Lennon out. If a ball hits your arm, it’s a penalty. Doesn’t matter whether it was intentional.
For me, that’s a 100% pen, slip or no slip. Isn’t it?
- Niasse goal. Clearly taken out by the last man with a tackle/lunge from behind. Refs often give cards for incidents back in play. There’s no rule that states he can’t give red, because a goal was scored, is there?
As above, handball has to be deliberate, the ball hitting your arm isn't a foul (unless certain requirements are met). Ignore what players, fans, commentators, pundits, managers and even refs award, handball HAS to be deliberate to be a foul.
Not sure about giving a red after seemingly playing advantage after dogso but thsi appears to state that the ref should give a yellow presumably because as a goal was scored that negates the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity :
"
Advantage
If the referee plays the advantage for an offence for which a caution / send off
would have been issued had play been stopped, this caution / send off must be
issued when the ball is next out of play, except when the denial of an obvious
goal-scoring opportunity results in a goal the player is cautioned for
unsporting behaviour."
Although i don't believe the ref gave the guy a yellow card so presumably awarded the goal and nothing else. It would only have been a yellow anyway as it was an attempt to play the ball and a penalty was awarded.
Comes up a lot on here regarding the rules, i'm by no means an expert but i do find it odd that people claim to be fans of a game but often don't even know the basics of the rules (not having a dig at you 2 guys i quoted), the rules are online and easy to find although not always easy to interpret as they are often written in a bit of an odd way.
http://www.theifab.com/laws