For once Everton made a fight of it against City but the outcome was still the same as always. Usually a defeat by City is cause for celebration but this time the Blues were FUMING because 1) they needed the points, and 2) they got absolutely screwed by one of the worst decisions of the season so far.
I say one of, because I still say the non-pen on Jota at Spurs was worse. Interestingly it was the same ref and same VAR involved. Maybe this time they'll face some punishment? Still rankles they got away with that Spurs game while Kevin Friend was punished for giving one in our favour that was nowhere near as egregious. Absolute bullshit how these manc refs get so much protection.
I’m not going to waste any time talking about the game itself as I didn’t watch it live and after seeing the handball incident all over twitter I was even less inclined to watch. The one comment I’ll make is that this is more evidence that City aren’t all they are cracked up to be. This narrative about them being so fucking amazing needs to stop. They needed proper shit VAR decisions to bail them out against Wolves, Arsenal and now Everton, and let’s not forget that VAR almost came to their rescue last week too before Spurs went and won the game all over again.
It’s hard enough competing with the financial doping but we also have to deal with officials doing them regular favours too.
This is really simple. It’s something I said loads of times last season. The reason officials are giving some of these decisions is because they want to, or as in this case, don’t want to. This is nothing new but it has become much more obvious now because of VAR. Previously there was always that element of doubt because, y’know, refereeing is incredibly difficult and bad decisions are a natural consequence of the job. Refs make mistakes, but VAR was supposed to fix that. It hasn’t, because refs are human beings and human beings often have bias and favouritism.
Sometimes this isn’t so obvious because often these are decisions that could go either way. Whichever way they give it, someone is going to be upset, but most of the time they will call it as they see it. Not all of the time though. And not all referees.
Some of them are dodgy as fuck, with Kavanagh easily at the top of that list. Previously refs could hide behind the excuse of being shit, but VAR has removed that safety net. Paul Tierney can still hide behind it, not least because the referee on the pitch does not always have a good enough view to make certain calls. So like I said after the Spurs game, this isn’t on Tierney, it’s on the twat in the VAR room who didn’t help him out and instead left him out there facing the music.
There’s no hiding place now when you can view incidents from multiple angles and slowed right down, and still somehow completely fuck it up.
So Chris Kavanagh didn’t make a mistake (as Mike Riley told Everton in the laughable apology he gave them). There was no mistake, he knew what he was doing and he ensured he got the outcome he wanted. I don’t even see how there can be any doubt about that. Firstly, literally everybody else who saw the incident - including some of the most pro-Man City people out there - said it was handball. The only person who disagreed was Kavanagh.
People can speculate over his reasons and suggest his bank account needs checking etc but I just think it’s a case of some referees favouring the team they support, which also includes punishing teams who are a threat. So when Kavanagh is stiffing us in that Spurs game, he’s doing so because it helps City.
The real question is how the fuck are all these refs from Manchester and surrounding areas being allowed anywhere near City and United games? It’s just a huge conflict of interests. The nearest football stadium to where Kavanagh grew up was Man City. He either supports them or has friends and family members that do. It shouldn’t be allowed, but when a South Yorkshire copper was allowed to ref Liverpool games and repeatedly make controversial decisions against us, then this shouldn’t really surprise anyone.
Corruption comes in many forms. It isn’t just brown envelopes or payments mad to offshore accounts. Sometimes it isn’t even about money. That non-decision at Goodison was absolutely not an honest mistake, because nobody is that incompetent. I know some will say that Kavanagh and others ARE that incompetent but it’s just not the case. They haven’t been plucked off the street and made referees. They’ve worked for years at it and worked their way up the ladder to reach the top of their profession. There is absolutely no way someone as qualified as that is viewing that Rodri incident and not seeing a handball. No way. He knew it was handball but he didn’t give it. Why? We can only guess at that.
I don’t give a fuck about Everton getting screwed over. In fact I welcome it. But it screwed us over too, so that’s pissed me off. Hopefully that doesn’t prove decisive as I’m sick of missing out on titles because of corrupt calls in City’s favour. Remember the Sterling offside in 2014 that was about five yards on? Then there was the Kompany tackle on Salah that should have been a red card in 2019.
I don’t think we’d specifically look back at this Goodison one if we narrowly miss out on the title (personally I’d still be blaming the Leicester defeat, as that was something we could control), but we’d certainly be entitled to. In an ideal world it won’t come to that, but Everton will be relegated because of it. They’ve spent large chunks of the last eight years championing the cause of City, so this would be so ironic even Alanis Morrisette would be raising an eyebrow.
Moving on, and Bielsa’s reign at Leeds came to an end after they were beaten at home by Spurs. It took only 10 minutes for Spurs to go ahead when Sessegnon crossed for fellow wingback Doherty to convert. Kulusevski added another five minutes later, He looks good him. They signed him after missing out on Diaz but he’s done well. He’s no Diaz, but he’s definitely given Spurs something.
Robin Koch *sniggers* then hit the post as Leeds tried to hit back, but Kane volleyed in number three and it was threatening to get completely out of hand. Leeds were just wide open, as they have been for weeks. Maybe things would have been different if Dallas had wasted a glorious opening presented to him by that clown Lloris. That was so bad, by Lloris and also Dallas. James then wasted a great chance too before Son put them out of their misery.
So that was the end of Bielsa then. I’m a little surprised the Leeds board did it because there was no fan pressure involved. In fact, most Leeds fans seem to disagree with the decision and I absolutely get that. The fella put them back on the map and deserved the chance to see out the season and try to keep them up. Their chances of safety have not been increased by getting rid of him because the new fella now has to implement his own style of play, which is going to be quite the upheaval for the Leeds players as no-one else plays the way Bielsa does.
They might yet stay up if they get their injured stars back for the run in but that wouldn’t vindicate the decision because Bielsa would have picked up point with his full squad. He just hasn’t had it all season.
As for Spurs, they followed this up by losing to a Championship side in the FA Cup. “Very Spursy, it’s in their DNA” said Roy Keane, before adding contemptuously “you can’t trust them”. He’s not wrong, and Keane’s utter disdain for Spurs never fails to amuse me.
Leeds are in trouble but so are Brentford, who lost at home to Newcastle. They were reduced to ten men very early on when Da Silva was sent off for an accidental but certainly dangerous bit of play. It was a weird one as he wasn’t trying to make a tackle, he wanted to plant his foot and then pirouette away from his man but he succeeded only in planting his foot on the shin of Matt Targett.
It’s one of those that you don’t view as a red card on first view because of the unusual nature of it, but when you look at the replay it’s a definite red and Mike Dean took typical pleasure in brandishing it with a flourish.
It was the first time Brentford managed to hit the Targett in weeks. What? That’s what you pay your subs for folks.
Joeli N’ton headed Newcastle in front with only his second goal of the season. His first was against Brentford too. They should be relegated just for that really. Willock made it 2-0 with his second goal in consecutive games. He shushed the crowd too. Getting fucking cocky now are we after going six months without a goal? Appalling lack of self awareness. You can take the lad out of Arsenal….
Christian Eriksen made his first appearance since the Euros, which was a nice moment. Hopefully he can help them start picking up some points to take them clear of Everton.
Villa ended their recent bad run with a win at Brighton. Not much in the game, chances for both teams but as usual Brighton wasted most of theirs. Cash put Villa in front with a brilliant strike from distance. You could say that was…. the Money Shot. God, I’m on form here.
Watkins wrapped it up in the second half. Brighton’s early season form seems a long time ago now. Well, it is a long time ago I suppose, but yeah it feels like they’ve been pretty shit lately. We play them soon so that’s good news.
Burnley picked up a really good point away at Palace. That’s not a game I thought they’d get anything from and they fell behind early as Palace started like a house on fire.
Burnley equalised seconds after the break when Lennon’s cut back was deflected into his own net by Milovojevic. That’s how it stayed but they might have won but for a great save by Butland to deny Weghorst. The Big Dutchman had a goal ruled out for offside while at the other end Zaha hit the post. I’ve got high hopes for Palace when they play City soon on MNF. They’ve got so much pace and skill in wide areas and if Zaha is on it they’ll give City problems. That Olise is fucking boss too, I really like him.
Southampton’s sneaky good run of form continued with a Friday night win over Norwich. Che Adams’ scruffy effort set them on their way. The game was just chance after chance for Southampton but they weren’t taking them and Norwich could have levelled through Hanley. That was a wake up call and Romeu’s stunning half volley made the game safe late on.
They also beat West Ham in the cup in midweek and scored some cracking goals in the process. They’re having a good season on the sly. That Ralph Hasselhoff is a good coach, although I feel uneasy about saying that considering he’s had two 9-0 losses in the last couple of seasons. He can fuck off nicking Klopp’s post match celebration though. Not cool.
Speaking of not cool, the Hodge took Watford to Old Trafford and went home with a point after a somewhat fortuitous 0-0 in which United should have scored half a dozen.
Nemanja Matic still gets games for Man United and I find that hilarious. He was finished about five years ago yet somehow they’re still wheeling him out. There was a Juan Mata sighting the other week too in their FA Cup defeat by Boro. That shocked me as I had no idea he was still there. I thought he’d been shipped off to MLS or Qatar ages ago.
Ronaldo had a goal ruled out for offside and that annoyed me to be honest. It was offside and it’s a good spot by the linesman, but he should be keeping his flag down there just for the ‘bantz’ of letting Ronaldo do that lame “SIIIIUUUUUUU” thing which is then copied by 40 year old virgins in United shorts all over the world. If I’m a linesman I’m never flagging against him, just let him celebrate and then have VAR shit all over it.
Finally, Sunday’s only league game saw Wolves travel to London to take on West Ham. Both teams harbour slight hopes of nicking a top our spot but Wolves had make like very difficult for themselves with two losses to Arsenal in recent weeks. They deserve nothing after capitulating at the Emirates last week so I’m glad West Ham beat them, the Arteta enabling pricks.
Soucek got the only goal of the game which was a blast from the past. Remember last season when he was scoring every week? Feels like he hasn’t scored at all this season. This result, coupled with the Mancs drawing, means West Ham are just two points off fourth now having played the same number of games.
If they weren’t playing us this weekend I’d be wanting them to win, but as soon as this weekend is over I’m all in on the Hammers getting fourth. I can’t stand their owners or manager, but seeing Moyes beat United to fourth spot is just too funny a prospect to root against.
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