It's a good spot by the referee, Swansea player has his arm fully round Kayembe and doesn't let him go for the entire duration of the corner
Absolutely and you're right - I've seen much worse not given and if he did a similar move but for a shorter duration he probably would've gotten away with it. I usually recommend similar blocks with the teams I work for (league dependant as VAR is strict in some countries!), but usually only says 1 or 2 seconds of contact for blocking is needed - that's enough time to free up your man and get him a headstart. Any longer and you run the risk of getting done for a foul.
Thanks goodness he had his arm round Kayembe and well spotted ref, without those two things happening we probably would still have 13 points
If you look at the lengthways video of the replays you should be able to see (Kayembe?) grabbed around the waist and wrestled more or less to the ground. Doesn't matter that it probably didn't make any difference to the header, it was a foul. The fact that referees often miss such events is due to the fact they are outnumbered by cheating players. Therefore it was a good spot by the ref.
I don't understand why these very obvious fouls are almost never given. It never used to happen but now it seems fair game, usually. How did it creep into the game and why is holding at corners never (well almost never) penalised ? Likewise when I played I was often penalised for hands on the shoulders of a striker to get extra leverage and prevent him getting a clear jump, yet these days a lot of goals are scored with the striker effectively holding the defender down, climbing all over him and preventing him jumping. I don't understand why such minor fouls are given all over the pitch yet it seems "anything goes" in the penalty area.
Do we know if these punishments are absolute if players are late or is common sense used? If I was a player who allows good time to drive to training, but got stuck on the M1 behind an RTA, I'd be a bit peeved if I was reprimanded and missed a game....
You are right, this happens all the time. Probably because the refs are instructed to 'let the game flow'. In amateur football there are no paying spectators and so a ref is free to blow his whistle when he sees a foul. Modern pro football is not all about fairness, but largely about 'entertainment'. A pro ref who insisted on blowing his whistle every time there was an infringement would not get given the games to officiate. Football also follows 'fashions' and refs have to approach the game as the league currently thinks fit.
Didn't see the holding on Kayembe. Excellent spot. Even if it was incorrectly ruled out, we could have just pointed to our disallowed goal at home to the same opponents in 2017/18 and a subsequently elongated example of universal balancing.
I thought that was a thoroughly decent away performance. Not perfect but we're improving and we now look OK in defensive midfield, the way we broke out of defence on a quick counter for Sema's wonder goal was very capoue/doucoure-esque. I'm relaxed about things now, we've gone back a level since the prem but seemingly ditched the philosophy of buying expensive crap players. I actually think GP has accepted the idea of 2 seasons of low spending squad building in this division, VI has made his point and I'm looking forward to a 10th place finish this season, some reinforcements in January and next summer, and see where we are then. Without a billionaire owner we are too small a club to expect constant Prem level and we've got to accept that...
It's amazing how it differs from country to country as well. In the Champ you can usually get away with lots of physical contact. In Portugal they are SUPER strict with contact from corners, once had a player stand behind the furthest zonal marker towards the back of the 6-yard area - no physical contact, just standing right behind him to stop him from backtracking. Our target-man then attacked the back of the 6-yard area and got the shot off and headed over, referee said that had it gone in it most likely would've been ruled out, crazy considering technically the defender initiated the contact by backing into our stationary player, now compare that to what we see in the Championship and it's a huge difference - and one that makes my work a nightmare!
But then refs seem to police corners entirely differently to any other set piece. Before almost every single one you get the pantomine of the ref intervening to tell experienced players not to grapple or impede one another. I've never understood why they do those warnings for that - up to and including sometimes delaying the restart of play for 20-30 seconds to deal with it - rather than just let it play out and give what they see.
Yes, I just don't understand why. Generally fouls are given for softer fouls these days vs 20-30 years ago, but for corners anything goes.
I think we've had a mixed bag from officials this season. A dreadful penalty awarded against us at Coventry. An extremely harsh red card for Andrews, with it resulting in a 4-match ban being totally disproportionate. The penalty award for Sheffield Wed was a clear mistake, and luckily the linesman was bold enough to tell the ref. So, that's three things to have gone against us. Last night at first look, it seemed like a valid goal. It's only once you see the replay you see Kayembe being held for the entire corner, leaving their guy a free run and unopposed header. The ref must have been looking for it or at the two players and blew immediately for the foul. The fact they scored is what made it more of a thing. But, for sure, it's unusual for officials to act against these obvious fouls. They normally let it go (wrongly IMO). So, I consider we were lucky in this instance that we had an official who actually did his job and applied the law correctly, as most do not.
Found the video of it, was very slightly more contact than I remember (and the shot was blocked rather than headed over), but madness how little contact there was compared to what we see in England every week.
Great to get an away win and a great goal to clinch it. Thought Sierrelta was a big improvement on Porto in the back line. Bayo made his chance by winning the ball to start with and I don't think he did too much wrong with the header. I feel a bit sorry for him as he comes off and we bring our flair players on in the 2nd half who are more likely to create chances. He is better than Rajovic and brings more to the team. Livermore looking better each game but still not sure about Ince.
It's a farce these days, refs need more guidance in looking for the crafty blocks and manhandling. The only directive I see being enforced is grabbing or holding, but these days the defenders stand goalside of an attacker, hold their arms out in front in a clear effort to stop the attacker from moving. If they issued an edict saying that any playing raising their arms to shepherd or restrict an opponent at corners will incur an indirect free kick? They don't need to use their arms until actually jumping for the ball.
Their disallowed goal was soft, but I've seen them been given as fouls, it is what it is, we have and surely will see plenty more decisions like that go against us
Football has such fine lines. Last two matches have provided two clear sliding doors moments. The penalty does not get overturned against Sheff Wed and we end up losing. The Swansea goal stands and we end up losing. So, instead of 6 points, we have zero from the last two games with exactly the same performances. We'd be just 1 place and 2 points from relegation, and I think Ismael's job would be hanging by a thread, had we not already seen the dreaded corner flag. Regardless of how merited the last 2 results have been, we must now capitalise. There's nothing to be feared and we could potentially win the next three fixtures. Millwall home, Huddersfield away and Rotherham home, could yield 9 points if we get our act together and luck is on our side for those key moments. If we win the next three, making it 22 from 24 points, that'll put our season firmly back on track. This is not beyond the realms of possibility.
As you said - a game of fine margins. Alternatively we could've picked up points against Boro (64% chance of winning), Cardiff (73% chance of winning) or Blackburn (62% chance of winning) that we took a total of 1 point from despite dominating and having more than enough chances to win the games. 2 wins out of those and we could've comfortably been in the playoffs.
Plus I'm not sure you'd call the officials ultimately making the right decision as they did against Sheffield Wednesday, however unusual the process, as a slice of luck. Last night...perhaps, but I've seen those been given as fouls before, even if I wouldn't expect it to be given and I'd be raging if it went against us up the other end
The culture of this is not helped by stupid pundits, including ex-refs, saying: “That wasn’t enough of a foul to give a penalty.”
Watching the highlights back I actually think that Bayo header was a lot harder than it initially looked, I thought he'd missed a sitter watching it live. He can pretty much only head it where he headed it from the angle he was at and the keeper's position was good so not quite the sitter I thought it was.
I think Bayo is genuinely trying hard (but lacks quality), he is running around the pitch trying to make things happen , haranguing the goal keeper and chasing down lost balls, the problem is he probably needs 5 -10 attempts per goal but the way we play he probably only gets 2-3 per match. I was disappointed when Rajovic came on for him , I know he offers a bit more height and a bit more direct mindedness but don’t think he is doing the other stuff Bayo is.if Rajovic is on the pitch he needs to stay in the box and we need to be crossing in to him, but that doesn’t happen. I live for the day that we find another Deeney /Vydra , Deeney / Ighaloo partnership , one brings it down the other is waiting to put it into the back of the net. Also what is the fascination with playing out from the back (I know Bachmans distribution is fairly poor) , is it to try and get the opposition players forward and then spring a break, or because we don’t have players that can land a decent long pass?
"Hit the ball early, hard and on target and.. Let the goalkeeper worry about it" - Bobby Charlton. Ken Sema's goal was a tribute to the man.
He's trying to, he never stops lumbering after the keeper and centre backs, he's just so painfully slow he never gets anywhere near them. He's definitely trying to press and close down but the game just continues around him. The way he plays reminds me of my electric toothbrush when the battery has almost run out and it's trying its best to keep spinning but it's really not worth it.
I think if both teams are engaging in it, which as you say they usually are, the ref tends to let it go as it can be unclear who the worst offenders were, or who initiated it
The same as Saturday. The performance wasn't great Subs made the difference Much tighter at the back Got 3 points Bolstered confidence Arguably Saturday is bigger, as there is now expectation attached to the game.
It makes it all the more ridiculous when they are, rightly punished, because I'm sure Swansea would be able to point to similar fouls against them that weren't given.
