mutt1 wrote:
Just been reading online that the free kick was given 20 yards away from where turner back healed it from. As i say i haven't seen it but from what i've read it seems like poor officiating
That's myth.
It was poorly officiated as nobody knew exactly what was happening. The ref had his back turned to the ball as he jogged up field assuming they were going to punt it long, he turned around to see Torres running towards goal with the ball, which was somehow allowed to continue. The villain in that are the other officials as they simply have to help him out in those situations, as he can't see every single play through 90 minutes.
As for the free kick and whether Sunderland intended that. I don't really know. Turner's back-heel seemed far too soft to be intended as a pass back, whilst the 'keeper didn't seem like he was moving forward as though his intentions were to carry the ball out from the back. I think if the ref seen it, he would have pulled it back and said no goal, but, saying that, Sunderland got a no-goal against us last year, so, in the unwritten laws, things are now 'evened out'. That doesn't make it any more 'right', as these schoolboy errors like these need to be removed from the game, but Sunderland can't feel too hard done by after last year's goal that they got.
