Graham Poll: I'm sorry, Chelsea, but you have yourselves to blame

07 December 2009 02:17
Chelsea had a number of grievances on Saturday but they lost their discipline and consequently the points. [LNB]Firstly, handball is the only offence that must be deliberate and when Micah Richards saw Shaun Wright-Phillips' shot flying towards him his intention appeared to be to get out of the way, so City's first goal was legitimate. [LNB]The second bone of contention was the award of the free-kick from which Carlos Tevez scored the winner. [LNB] Bone of contention: City's Carlos Tevez (right) scored from a free-kick after Howard Webb gave a foul for this challenge from Chelsea's Ricardo Carvalho[LNB]Carlo Ancelotti, the Chelsea manager, said that Ricardo Carvalho had played the ball. The way I saw the incident I agree that initially Carvalho did play the ball while under pressure from Tevez, who may have been guilty of jumping into the Chelsea defender.[LNB] [LNB]    More from Graham Poll... GRAHAM POLL: Why I was left with more questions than answers after the video trial at Manchester City's win over Chelsea07/12/09 GRAHAM POLL: Why video technology is the only way to go for FIFA02/12/09 GRAHAM POLL: Referees respect the fire of bitter derby battles26/11/09 GRAHAM POLL: Why FIFA must act on handballs as Paul Scharner shows us that players will never change23/11/09 GRAHAM POLL: Thierry Henry's handball is only the tip of the iceberg 20/11/09 Graham Poll: Cheats never prosper? Well, France certainly did in Paris19/11/09 GRAHAM POLL: Why Gary Neville needs to take off his red-tinted specs16/11/09 GRAHAM POLL: Play-off contenders aren't alone in bid to reach World Cup16/11/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVEBut in a second movement, Carvalho appeared to kick out and when two offences occur simultaneously the referee must punish the more serious offence, which was Carvalho's. So, sorry Chelsea, but Howard Webb was right. [LNB]John Terry also felt aggrieved when he was manhandled in the area and he may have had a point, but there are at least half a dozen of these incidents in every Premier League match. [LNB]Chelsea certainly appeared to lose their heads with the official a number of times and failed to appreciate that they had gained as a result of the only clear error which our No 1 referee made. [LNB]Webb awarded Chelsea a corner after Ashley Cole had played the ball last and they scored from it. [LNB]But City, rather than lose their cool with the officials, concentrated on playing football. Chelsea did not and ended the game with six yellow cards and an FA fine to follow. [LNB]Considering the attitude of so many players towards Webb, they were fortunate to end the game with 11 men. [LNB]  Explore more:People:Shaun Wright-Phillips, Carlo Ancelotti, John Terry, Carlos Tevez, Ashley Cole, Graham Poll

Source: Daily_Mail