The Smith-Rowe strike that gave Arsenal the lead. Correct decision?

Gio

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Straightforward case. It was a sore one to take on the achilles - one you might stay down for on the training ground, for example. Or one you might get away with rolling on the floor as a striker, you know, because the team will probably survive being a man down for a minute. But as a goalkeeper, as the last line of defence? Pure naivety and the correct decision.
 

Roux

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Exactly. DDG should be embarrassed at that.
He surely knows that VAR will have a look if he is hobbling about and unable to save a shot properly. He guessed incorrectly it was an Arsenal player when what he should have been doing was playing on and then going down when the ball was out of danger. All these "but it might have really hurt" comments - have a word with yourselves please. Sometimes things hurt when you play football, you don't have to curl up like a 5 year old.
Its a goal every day and twice on Sundays.
Absolutely, nobody is saying he can't go down if he has a legitimate injury. But the foul from Fred, coupled with De Gea's action after the foul (chasing the ref) just doesn't add up.
 

MackRobinson

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Wrong decision and not unsporting from Smith Rowe.

We have video evidence of Fred accidentally stomping on the goalkeeper and injuring him (shouldn't matter if it was his own teammate). The ref doesn't have to guess if it was a con. He can just look at the video evidence. For Arsenal, you absolutely shoot in that scenario in case the keeper is attempting to con the ref. The onus is on the ref to overturn the call.
 

OverratedOpinion

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People calling De Gea a pussy are odd.

He was clearly trodden (with studs) on in a spot that legitimately hurts and hinders your movement at least momentarily, every goalkeeper in the league would have gone down in that situation and it was sensible as Atkinson was moving the whistle to his mouth to allow him treatment so that he didn't need to spring up and play with his movement temporarily restricted. Unfortunately, Smith Rowe saw he was down and took advantage of the situation before Atkinson could get the whistle to his mouth and as such tied his hands.
 

bosnian_red

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I haven't played competitively in years but from what I remember anything to do with feet getting raked or trodden on hurt the most.
I'm not saying it doesn't hurt... I'm saying it definitely doesn't cause you to drop and roll around in agony, or go in a fetal position. Maybe wincing, hopping around, a little yelp, sure. That's genuine. De Geas reaction was 100% exaggerated. Not saying it didn't hurt... just saying he easily could've braved through it and almost definitely would have, had he known it was Fred and not an Arsenal player at fault.
 

Cascarino

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The FA rules state ‘Play is allowed to continue until the ball is out of play if a player is, in their opinion, only slightly injured’, but it also states ‘Exceptions to this ruling are made only for: Injury to a goalkeeper’.

So shouldn’t play have been stopped as soon as the goalkeeper went down injured, regardless whether it was our player or an arsenal player that caused the injury?

Atkinson should’ve noticed De Gea was down injured and stopped play immediately.
This is an important part of the rule I’m guessing. Means that the goal shouldn’t have stood.
The "exception part" is about the need to leave the pitch for treatment, not for stopping the game.
As far as I know, stopping the game for keeper injuries is an unwritten law rather than an actual one.

Edit: Here's the wording

INJURIES
  • allows play to continue until the ball is out of play if a player is only slightly injured
  • stops play if a player is seriously injured and ensures that the player is removed from the field of play. An injured player may not be treated on the field of play and may only re-enter after play has restarted; if the ball is in play, re-entry must be from the touchline but if the ball is out of play, it may be from any boundary line. Exceptions to the requirement to leave the field of play are only when:
    • a goalkeeper is injured
 

SAFMUTD

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Did you even see the incident? You're acting like nobody actually touched him. Fred quite clearly stands straight on the back of his achilles heel.

Who are you to judge how much it should hurt and whether he's ok to continue. It's just bonkers to even try and pretend that he should have zero pain and iron tendons.

It wasn't a dive or pretending to be hit.
Like many here have said does it hurt? Sure. Does it hurt enough for De Gea to totally abandon the play, get to the floor and turn his back? No I don't think so.

It's clear he could continue playing, as the goal was given he sprint onto the ref didn't seem hurt there.

Im not saying he was faking a hit, but he was clearly exaggerating it.

I for one like way more the physical players that play through pain warriors such as Keane, Gattuso, Vidic rather the primadonas like Neymar that with the slightest contact they go down and roll over as if they got their leg broken 34 times per game.

If you have ever played football you know the pain when you get kicked or stepped on and while it hurts it's totally manageable, but for some reason professional players get away with exaggerating those and it seems that's ok with the refs and the fans.

I'm glad De Gea got punished, I'm sure if the situation happens again he won't act the same.
 

MackRobinson

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The "exception part" is about the need to leave the pitch for treatment, not for stopping the game.
As far as I know, stopping the game for keeper injuries is an unwritten law rather than an actual one.

Edit: Here's the wording

INJURIES
  • allows play to continue until the ball is out of play if a player is only slightly injured
  • stops play if a player is seriously injured and ensures that the player is removed from the field of play. An injured player may not be treated on the field of play and may only re-enter after play has restarted; if the ball is in play, re-entry must be from the touchline but if the ball is out of play, it may be from any boundary line. Exceptions to the requirement to leave the field of play are only when:
    • a goalkeeper is injured
The goalkeeper was injured. Not sure how the VAR official decided he wasn't.
 

AndySmith1990

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Correct decision. Arsenal did nothing wrong and De Gea hadn't suffered a serious injury that should immediately stop play. It might have hurt a bit, but not to the point where he needed to stay down for several minutes as if he'd lost all ability to move. It would've been an easy save to make had he stayed focused and got on with his job.
 

Dr. Dwayne

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I'm not saying it doesn't hurt... I'm saying it definitely doesn't cause you to drop and roll around in agony, or go in a fetal position. Maybe wincing, hopping around, a little yelp, sure. That's genuine. De Geas reaction was 100% exaggerated. Not saying it didn't hurt... just saying he easily could've braved through it and almost definitely would have, had he known it was Fred and not an Arsenal player at fault.
Yes, he's exaggerating it to get the ref's attention because they will typically stop the play if a keeper is down. All keepers will do similar things. Outfield players do it too to highlight what they believe is a foul. He can't have known it was Fred that did it so his reaction is what you'd expect any keeper to do. When you watch the replay as soon as Atkinson sees De Gea down he begins to bring the whistle up to stop play. Unfortunately for us, the ball was in the net by the time he blew it and VAR informed him that because of that the goal had to stand.

Six pages seems a bit much in that regard.
 

Roux

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Yes, he's exaggerating it to get the ref's attention because they will typically stop the play if a keeper is down. All keepers will do similar things. Outfield players do it too to highlight what they believe is a foul. He can't have known it was Fred that did it so his reaction is what you'd expect any keeper to do. When you watch the replay as soon as Atkinson sees De Gea down he begins to bring the whistle up to stop play. Unfortunately for us, the ball was in the net by the time he blew it and VAR informed him that because of that the goal had to stand.

Six pages seems a bit much in that regard.
That exaggeration cost us a goal. Hopefully he learns his lesson next time.
 

Baneofthegame

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Yeah its laughable to be honest. Some people actually seem to think that this rolling around all footballers do is actually a genuine reaction? I thought everyone knew it was just a big exaggeration but just part of it to highlight the foul. If you didn't get shot, you didn't break something, didn't tear a muscle or ligament or tendon, why are you rolling around? There are very few things that cause pain to that degree that results in what De Gea did (or most footballers do at any foul). Hell, even with a broken bone adrenaline can usually push through the pain for a bit of time until you need to lay down.
We should book players for severity of injury attached to the roll/fetal position, that way anything but a leg breaker or being shot will be the only things we stop the game for.

We could also judge challenges by “in Sunday league what would happen?”
 

bosnian_red

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Yes, he's exaggerating it to get the ref's attention because they will typically stop the play if a keeper is down. All keepers will do similar things. Outfield players do it too to highlight what they believe is a foul. He can't have known it was Fred that did it so his reaction is what you'd expect any keeper to do. When you watch the replay as soon as Atkinson sees De Gea down he begins to bring the whistle up to stop play. Unfortunately for us, the ball was in the net by the time he blew it and VAR informed him that because of that the goal had to stand.

Six pages seems a bit much in that regard.
Yeah for sure. Though I think Atkinson definitely could have stopped play, but he waited for the ball to cross the line before blowing to ensure if there was nothing wrong, the goal would stand. I don't think he just blew too late for what he intended. Which is fair imo and how it should happen more often, as goalkeepers buy cheap free kicks way too often.
 

bosnian_red

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We should book players for severity of injury attached to the roll/fetal position, that way anything but a leg breaker or being shot will be the only things we stop the game for.

We could also judge challenges by “in Sunday league what would happen?”
Like I said. It's accepted that players roll around. They don't have to. They just do it to get attention. It's a bit embarrassing but that's about it. I'm not sure what you're arguing? De Gea exaggerated to get attention as he thought he was fouled. He wasn't fouled. Had he known be wasn't fouled, the incident wasn't actually bad enough to cause him to act like that. Therefore he could've played on. Because he didn't, he gets the blame 100% for me. Goal doesn't happen if he plays to the whistle.
 

AndyMUFC86

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For me it wasn’t down to the ref making a bad call. It was down to pure bad sportsmanship from Arsenal. I’ve been going to old Trafford since 1995 and I don’t remember ever seeing another player taking a shot when the gk is injured. It’s simple sportsmanship. Like an unwritten rule in the game. If the gk is down play stops.
 

Dr. Dwayne

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That exaggeration cost us a goal. Hopefully he learns his lesson next time.
Meh, it's only a goal. And it only cost us because the play had moved away from him leaving Atkinson unaware. It was simply a combination of things creating a perfect storm. Even Smith Rowe's first time strike seemed unexpected.

But yes hopefully Dave doesn't take his eyes off the game again.
 

Adam-Utd

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That exaggeration cost us a goal. Hopefully he learns his lesson next time.
So he should continue debilitated, then when the shot goes into the corner and he can't dive to reach it he gets the blame? nah.

He did the right thing. Ref should have stopped the match like any normal referee should have, so he could have got treatment.

Football isn't a competition to be the hardest man in the world, it's a sport of skill. Arsenal scored with a goalkeeper unable to take part, and should have given the goal back. Simple.

I won't change my mind on this.
 

Dr. Dwayne

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Like I said. It's accepted that players roll around. They don't have to. They just do it to get attention. It's a bit embarrassing but that's about it. I'm not sure what you're arguing? De Gea exaggerated to get attention as he thought he was fouled. He wasn't fouled. Had he known be wasn't fouled, the incident wasn't actually bad enough to cause him to act like that. Therefore he could've played on. Because he didn't, he gets the blame 100% for me. Goal doesn't happen if he plays to the whistle.
From the replay I saw yesterday he turns and starts to bring the whistle up as the shot is going by him. Because of that I think he was genuinely stopping it because De Gea was down. If that shot wasn't a rocket, he might have got the whistle in his mouth in time.
 

Classical Mechanic

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I posted this in the other thread but the idea that all keepers are going to curl into a ball on the line if they get hurt isn't true. It was a strange thing to do considering he was able to play on quite quickly afterwards.

 

Roux

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Meh, it's only a goal. And it only cost us because the play had moved away from him leaving Atkinson unaware. It was simply a combination of things creating a perfect storm. Even Smith Rowe's first time strike seemed unexpected.

But yes hopefully Dave doesn't take his eyes off the game again.
A very very cheap goal to give away and it makes the game harder to win. That perfect storm doesn't happen if De Gea does the first thing you learn in football - play to the whistle.
 

sparx99

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Why would he stop play though? And hardly multiple chances. The cross came in, was cleared to elneny who played a first time pass to ESR for a first time shot. The ball never left the edge of the box. The threat was never gone. There was no reason for the ref to blow a whistle. If the refs start blowing up for a goalkeeper being down, then goalkeepers will just start falling down all the time at any self injury during dangerous moments. 90th minute corner? Goalkeeper just injure yourself because apparently that's fine to get away with.
Goalies get soft fouls all the time but this time when he didn’t get fouled but was hurt they couldn’t stop play?
 

Roux

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I posted this in the other thread but the idea that all keepers are going to curl into a ball on the line if they get hurt isn't true. It was a strange thing to do considering he was able to play on quite quickly afterwards.

Great post - this is what we are trying to say.
 

Marwood

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It's not like he saw the guy about to shoot and fell to the floor is it? He got studded right on his ankle and went down.

You can argue whether it was foolish to stay down (it was but I don't think he knew it wasn't an Arsenal player so also unlucky), but what you can't argue is that he was genuinely hurt, even if not severely. The guidance to the refs is that you should stop play if the goalkeeper's hurt. If the ref thinks the goalkeeper is faking though he's well within his rights to book him for simulation.
I'm not arguing it didn't hurt. It's a contact sport, players are getting hurt a bit every other second.

I'm arguing he's exaggerated it, which you seem to agree with in saying he was foolish to stay down.

Fred stood on his heel. De Gea was holding the sides and front of his ankle. I didn't see any particular treatment. Did he even take his boot off? His sock? Any plasters or strapping. For that much pain the skin must at least have been cut. Then of course he's up and about shortly after. It's just common sense.

I don't know why posters are pretending pain is some abstract condition that's impossible to comment on. I bet you every single poster defending De Gea has at some point argued a player on another team is exaggerating injury. Without doubt.
 

UncleBob

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The lack of intelligence in here is disturbing, i really don't have the slightest clue whatsoever what some of you are on about when it comes to the claim that De Gea is faking it.
Fred doesn't just slightly touch De Gea, he plants his studs on his achilles tendon and puts all weight on his foot. The level of sheer stupidity and lack of basic understanding of why that hurts like a motherfecker, christ :lol:

 

Roux

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So he should continue debilitated, then when the shot goes into the corner and he can't dive to reach it he gets the blame? nah.

He did the right thing. Ref should have stopped the match like any normal referee should have, so he could have got treatment.

Football isn't a competition to be the hardest man in the world, it's a sport of skill. Arsenal scored with a goalkeeper unable to take part, and should have given the goal back. Simple.

I won't change my mind on this.
AT LEAST try to do something. the ball was hardly thumped at him was it? He didn't do the right thing at all - he tried to be smart and it backfired! Stop acting like he broke his leg and look at the reality of what ACTUALLY happened.
 

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Once Atkinson decided to not blow the whistle, it was done. The goal should have been given immediately. So the ref is a proper git to blow later and then get confused.

The only thing that irked me was Arsenal players celebrating and Auba jumping on ESR and all.
 

sparx99

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It doesn’t need to say it explicitly. Everyone watching football should surely understand that if a keeper is down then you should stop play to avoid the exact scenario that happened yesterday. Referees understand this 99.9% of the time.

For all those saying goalkeepers will just feign injury then what’s to stop players fouling keepers, hoping the ref plays on and scoring. Leagues with VAR might overturn a few but worth the risk I’d suggest. Just barge a defender into the keeper I guess.

The fact is the idea of keepers faking injury would be dealt with swiftly by the authorities if it became an obvious tactic. And most players just want to play the game anyway.
 

Greck

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He was looking at the ball while it floated out of the box so he must have thought the danger was clear. There's no doubt it must have been painful but there are better ways to handle this than going into the fetal position during live play. Isn't some reflex action that forced his body to shut down and go paralysed.
 
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Roux

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The lack of intelligence in here is disturbing, i really don't have the slightest clue whatsoever what some of you are on about when it comes to the claim that De Gea is faking it.
Fred doesn't just slightly touch De Gea, he plants his studs on his achilles tendon and puts all weight on his foot. The level of sheer stupidity and lack of basic understanding of why that hurts like a motherfecker, christ :lol:

... and yet no treatment was needed, no boots off, no stretcher or no substitution! in fact he chased the ref right after the goal was given!!! Get a grip! This isn't enough to make you crawl up in a ball.
 

charlenefan

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I think the refs gotta do better there, he’s got tunnelvision.
I expect most refs would’ve noticed almost immediately and blown up, by the time he notices it’s too late and he is left with no real choice.
Correct decision but Smith-Rowe is a little turd, obviously knew keeper was down and acted completely unsportingly. Embarrassing celebrations for an embarrassing football club.
Agree with both of these

Sadly, yes. But would expect Arsenal to gift a goal back in terms of fairplay, though.
Maybe I'm expecting too much but you would of hoped they'd of given us a goal regardless. Horrible club though so I probably am expecting to much
 

sparx99

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Guys none of you can genuinely believe he was so hurt he had to hit the deck and curl up in a ball. Not possible.

If the ref allows himself to be conned there he sets a terrible precedent for football. You can't have goalkeepers stopping the game whenever they feel like it.
No, I don’t think he was near death. So?

We should just ban every player in the premier league cos they all exaggerate every contact.

I’m sure it hurt. I’m sure that the ref had time to stop the game. I’m sure if he’d done and given a drop ball to Arsenal nobody would’ve cared. The fact we are even having a debate suggests they got something wrong last night.
 

TheReligion

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... and yet no treatment was needed, no boots off, no stretcher or no substitution! in fact he chased the ref right after the goal was given!!! Get a grip! This isn't enough to make you crawl up in a ball.
Woahhhh calm down tough guy.

Back in the day when they used to use jumpers for goal posts.

That bastard David Busst should have played on!
 

UncleBob

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... and yet no treatment was needed, no boots off, no stretcher or no substitution! in fact he chased the ref right after the goal was given!!! Get a grip! This isn't enough to make you crawl up in a ball.
:houllier:
 

The Dane

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I think that when he first falls to the ground he has no other option than to stay down until the play is stopped, and that he goes down in the first place is fair enough as that must have hurt, and what should he gain by play acting in that situation.
Okay that the goal stands under these circumstances but given the weakness of the shot which my grandmother would have saved, you can argue that it would have been fair if Arsenal had given us one afterwards.
 

sparx99

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Yes, he's exaggerating it to get the ref's attention because they will typically stop the play if a keeper is down. All keepers will do similar things. Outfield players do it too to highlight what they believe is a foul. He can't have known it was Fred that did it so his reaction is what you'd expect any keeper to do. When you watch the replay as soon as Atkinson sees De Gea down he begins to bring the whistle up to stop play. Unfortunately for us, the ball was in the net by the time he blew it and VAR informed him that because of that the goal had to stand.

Six pages seems a bit much in that regard.
Except the part about when Atkinson first noticed. He saw De Gea down during the initial clearance well before he later moved the whistle to his lips.
 

Roux

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Woahhhh calm down tough guy.

Back in the day when they used to use jumpers for goal posts.

That bastard David Busst should have played on!
Yeah you're trying that sarcastic approach now, because its all you have left. Over a knock that happens every game :lol:
 

TheReligion

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Yeah you're trying that sarcastic approach now, because its all you have left. Over a knock that happens every game :lol:
Sports science is your strong suit.

Ralf might have a spot for you with his reshuffle. What's your CV?