Source: Daily_Mail
Graham Poll: Premier League opening weekend verdict
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish was absolutely right to complain that Phil Dowd should have dismissed Kieran Richardson when the Sunderland man brought down Luis Suarez to concede a penalty at Anfield on Saturday.[LNB]For an incident to be deemed the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, the player who has been fouled must be heading directly towards goal. Suarez was and only diverted his path to go around Sunderland keeper Simon Mignolet when he was tripped from behind by Richardson. [LNB] Denying a goalscoring opportunity: Kieron Richardson should have been sent off for his tackle on Luis Suarez[LNB]If you look at the penalty at the DW stadium where Ritchie De Laet was adjudged to have tripped Franco Di Santo, you can see an example where the red card would have been wrong as Di Santo was never heading towards goal. Therefore Stuart Attwell was right with the disciplinary action although the actual penalty award, given by assistant Simon Bennett, looked extremely harsh.[LNB]Chelsea failed to hit the ground running under new boss Andre Villas-Boas, and left Stoke frustrated with an opening day draw. Although there were no goals, the game was packed with penalty claims - four in total. [LNB] Going down: Frank Lampard is brought down by Marc Wilson[LNB]Here's my verdict on them:[LNB]Incident 1: John Terry handballThe ball struck Terry's arm from such close proximity that it was near impossible for him to move it out of the way in time. NO PENALTY [LNB][LNB]Incident 2: Fernando Torres fouledRyan Shawcross clearly tripped Torres just inside the penalty area but the referee had an obstructed view. PENALTY [LNB]Incident 3: Frank Lampard trippedAs Lampard ran into the penalty area, Marc Wilson stretched a leg out and did not play the ball. His leg impeded Lampard's progress but the Chelsea man's legs folded quickly to minimise contact and possible injury. PENALTY [LNB]Incident 4: Fernando Torres fouledOnly slight contact from Woodgate in front of Begovic but Torres fell due to swinging and missing the ball. NO PENALTY[LNB] Swing... and a miss: Despitye his protests. Fernando Torres last penalty appeal was rightly dismissed[LNB]New manager but same old Chelsea with two of their senior players guilty of dissent at the Britannia. Both John Terry and Ashley Cole should have been disciplined for outbursts at the match officials. [LNB]First, Terry deliberately moved to confront Mark Halsey after the Lampard penalty appeal while waiting for a corner. Then when already on a caution, Cole abused an assistant and berated Halsey after being given offside. [LNB]Referees must act to clean up this ugly aspect of the game.[LNB]Good week for... [LNB]Bad week for... [LNB] Stoke City and their fans who finally got the rub of the green with refereeing decisions. Last season they kept getting decisions given against them but yesterday they escaped twoclear penalties and secured a home draw against Chelsea. Maybe this will be their season.[LNB] Newly promoted Queens Park Rangers - my team. Not only did they lose 4-0 at home but Keiron Dyer was also carried off with a suspected broken metatarsal. Then, to top the disastrous first day off, centre half Clint Hill got himself sent off instoppage time and he'll miss three games.[LNB] Jamie Redknapp's Weekend Watch: Sympathy for Gervinho and the return of Torres Watch all the Premier League goals every week on our brilliant video playerGraham Poll: Why the referee got it so wrong over Barton I was wrong! Barton admits guilt as FA plan to crack down after Twitter row[LNB]
