Breaking down the referee's 3 big calls shows Leicester got lucky
Leicester City dropped two points on Sunday, opening the door for Tottenham Hotspur to cut their lead atop the Premier League. Or Leicester City rescued a point at the death and turned a sure-fire loss into a heroic 10-man draw.
It all depends on your perspective. Kind of like how referee Jonathan Moss' performance depends on your perspective.
Moss had three key calls in the match. The first came when he sent off Jamie Vardy, and then the penalties he awarded to both teams. It's fair to say that those three incidents determined the match. But did Moss get the calls right -- implying he didn't decide the match and the actions that led to his whistles did -- or did the referee make a hash of it, deciding the 2-2 draw?
Let's take a look at all three:
Vardy red card
Jamie Vardy's second yellow card. Good call? https://t.co/o1p0CIfPXT
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) April 17, 2016
Vardy was already on a yellow card in the 57th minute when he made this run and went tumbling to the ground.
Angelo Ogbonna comes over and as soon as he does, Vardy is taking stock of him. He knows he's at a bad angle and his best chance is to earn a penalty. That's why he throws his body into the defender and then goes leaping forward.
Could you argue that Ogbonna gave Vardy a shove or grabbed his shoulder? Maybe. Or that Ogbonna got his legs tangled up in Vardy's? Maybe. But you have to go looking for ways that this isn't a penalty, essentially conceding that Vardy made a spectacle of a foul, but that there was still a foul in it. If that's the case - or if you pull the absurd "it's a dive and a yellow, but never a second yellow" - and you need to strain yourself that much to defend Vardy then the referee probably got it right.
After all, nothing explains the leap Vardy takes. More than anything Ogbonna pulls him back and somehow Vardy goes flying forward.
Moss nailed this one and Leicester, up 1-0, was down a man for the last 33 minutes.
West Ham penalty
Wes Morgan grabbed Winston Reid and pulled him to the ground. There wasn't much going in Morgan's favor here. It was a blatant foul in the box.
Making matters worse, Moss had previously warned both Morgan and Robert Huth about their physical play on corner kicks and told them to keep their hands off of the West Ham players so this penalty wasn't called out of nothing. Morgan knew that Moss was watching and he went for the over-aggressive play anyway.
The best defense of Morgan is that this kind of stuff happens on corner kicks all the time, and he would be right. But just because referees normally allow players to get away with anything short of assault on corner kicks doesn't mean this wasn't the right call. It's a textbook foul in the box and Moss had already warned him.
All Andy Carroll had to do was knock home the penalty, which he did, and West Ham were level in the 85th minute.
Leicester penalty
WHAT. A. FINISH. Leonardo Ulloa nets PK in final minute of stoppage time. #LCFC #BPLonNBC https://t.co/7bN1gLMkyE
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) April 17, 2016
Once again, Carroll was involved. But this time he was giving away the penalty kick, not scoring it. And with West Ham leading 2-1 in stoppage time at this point, Moss was under more pressure than ever.
The boisterous Leicester fans were chanting "2-1 to the referee" and Moss, being a human being with ears and a heart, certainly heard them. Whether they impacted him, only he could say (and he would say no).
Jeffrey Schlupp was at the edge of the box when he went down and Moss pointed to the spot. But while it was close, there's no doubt that Schlupp was in the box so Moss certainly got that part right.
Unfortunately, that's all he got right. Carroll was sloppy in his defending -- who would have guessed that a clumsy striker made for a poor defender? -- and there was some contact, but not nearly enough for a foul. Schlupp goes down on his own, looking for a foul that isn't there and Moss gives it to him anyway.
So Moss went two-for-three in the match, with his lone mistake being the one that went in favor of Leicester City.
Seeing as the crowd at the King Power had already cast him as the villain before the last penalty, prepared to blame him for costing them the title if need be, it's possible that the home fans really handed the Foxes a draw. Their pressure could have pushed Moss to blow the whistle for the penalty.
However Moss decided his three calls, the draw will stand and Leicester stole a point. It may even prove to be the point that hands them the title. And the Foxes will take it happily.
