Question Number: 31530

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/13/2017

RE: Rec Adult

Russell of Sydney, Australia asks...

How many fouls were committed in the lead up to this Stoke goal ?

Fast forward to the 4.06 minute mark.

http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2017/05/13/stoke-city-vs-arsenal-highlights/

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Russell
There were certainly questionable decision in there yet Referee Mike Dean was close at hand with a perfect view of what was going on.
For me it looked like there were two questionable fouls by Arsenal players although at the time Arsenal management complained that there was a foul by a Stoke player although personally I could not see it. The quality of the video and angle of view is poor. If the fouls were by Arsenal players the referee could have deemed them doubtful and therefore no need to signal advantage given that Stoke had the ball and was getting on with play. There did not seem to be any on field complaints about the lack of calls other than the handling.
The handling was the most important decision though that was missed in that Peter Crouch of Stoke used his arm to play the ball into the goal. I could see how it would be missed due to the speed of the movement, the presence of other players and where it happened. Referee Deam is not in frame at the moment of the incident which placed him some 20+ yards from the incident in a central position. Had he been deeper and wider he may have spotted it.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Russell,
actual play at real speed time the handling is not likely to be as apparent as the slow motion replay apparently showing the ball hitting the hand. I noticed Crouch did nothing to indicate it was off the hand. The referee was well back and the AR looking across would be confused from the proximity of the hand and head and how quick it occurred! The fact play was continued no one made a meal of that on the field so given the referee was close and aware I think it not an issue to those playing until Crouch goal set it off likely from the video replay of the goal than the actual goal. Cheers