RateTheRef

Well let’s break it down then. Is there a push? Yes there is. That’s fact. It then becomes a matter of opinion as to whether you (or Mr Madley in this case) believe it was sufficient force to make him fall over. Moving at speed as they were, it’s possible. I did say the play makes the most of it which he clearly does but the angle that shows it from where the referee is looks a very clear penalty in my opinion so I can accept why he awarded it.

Did the ‘foul’ continue into the penalty area? Yes it did. That is a fact. So again it is purely down to the interpretation of whether the push had enough force for a foul. The Sky pundits accepted the foul, their expert analysis however said even though it started outside and finished inside a free kick was a better decision. Clearly they are wrong in law here.

So I’m not the only one in cloud cuckoo land at all as you suggest. The Sky pundits accept it was a foul but questioned the restart. I think from the angle the referee had it looks a clear foul, the referee gets one view remember, only their view. They don’t have the benefit of a replay to decide if it was a bit soft or not