Unofficial MDT Man City V Leeds United

Not sure if any of ye saw the Chelsea/Porto game last night..

But very early on first 15mins??? Pepe jumped for a ball (arms up) and caught Havertz with an elbow to the head.

Now how are defenders suppose to jump? Arms down by their sides?? but thats not the point again if you listen back to ex-referees/ex-footballers last Saturday on the tv the vast majority were saying either excessive force or endangering a fellow professional.

So please explain to me how an elbow to the head of an opponent isnt endangering a fellow professional!!!!!

Dont get me wrong i dont think pepe should have been punished he won the ball in the air fairly and squarely, the ref didnt dish out any card, didnt even go over to talk to him and VAR didnt look at the incident either. So where is the consistency? how can someone be sent off for endangering an opponent on a Saturday in one game of football and another not even get a talking to (never mind a card) on a Tuesday night??

Is it because of the teams involved? does it go by who the players are? no matter what way both of those are no reason to apply any rule, they are the laws of the game not "laws of the game that apply to some".

Im sure there have been hundreds of these types of these big team "injustices" all across Europe this season but what can be done about it??

What i can see happening is a major incident like this happening in a big game (cup, towards the end of a league campaign) a really big game for a "small" Club a huge decision goes against them and the coach removes the players from the pitch. Only then will the spotlight really shine on the officials and their in consistency in applying the laws of the game will be discussed / thrashed out.

Of course not all decisions will be perfect and by and large the officials do a good job in what is increasingly becoming a faster and faster game so they have to make instant decisions in very difficult circumstances. Its a job where officials can make genuine mistakes, not perfect but in what job have we faultless workers, but the perception is its the big teams get the benefit of the doubt, like seriously how many here would think if the McTominay for manure last Sunday against Spurs was against Wolves or WBA would that goal have been disallowed?

Officiating is coming/at a critical juncture and needs to get its act together otherwise when the fans actually get back into the stadiums and these inconsistent decisions keep going against the lesser Clubs i think you could find the atmosphere getting very hostile very quickly and could even spill out onto the pitch, which nobody wants to see.

Well lads the euphoric feeling we all had on Saturday has slightly receded and i think we can all be a little more rational in our view now.

For me i still stand by my view that Cooper's tackle was a good one, i dont see anything that he has willfully intended to connect with the opponent. For me he has made a good challenge, a strong one but good one, and one that he im sure he was thought very early on in his footballing career.

OK rules have changed in recent years and player welfare is now part and parcel of the game and that's right in my book, no fellow professional should be endangered by another on the field of play. But what is the defender supposed to do in that scenario?? Pull out? Not tackle? change his momentum in mid air after winning the ball?

Many moons ago i attended a referring coaching course (rugby) but im sure this would be the standard answer no matter what sport is being played.

Question : How will I know if a tackle is a red card offense?

Answer : I was given "When you see one you will know"

And tbf that insight from a referring instructor stood me well in the intervening years.

If you look at the ref's location in the Cooper incident again he is looking directly at the tackle and his immediate reaction was yellow NOT RED, now argue the toss about it being a foul is one thing and a separate issue but his 1st impression on the tackle was yellow, naturally when pictures are slowed right down things look worse and maybe because he was asked to "have a look again" maybe referees are pressurized into a heavier sanction because someone else says "look again".

I haven't heard if Leeds are appealing the red card but listening to all the noise in media circles since it happened it seems pointless as the "verdict" has been given "desperate challenge" "definitely red" so we aint getting that card rescinded.

What i like to know will a keeper be sent off for connecting with an opponent when in the act of punching the ball clear from a corner kick but also connects with the head of the attacker??? seems crazy but what is the difference? a punch to the head is just as much as endangering an opponent as the tackle Cooper made on Saturday...

Great win--Cooper knew what he was doing with that tackle. His heart is blue, white and yellow but sometimes he is brainless cnt---Meslier is the best keeper we have had in donkeys years----How good is Liorente? Seriously fckin brilliant in his reading of the game.

Just a note on Alioski: again, not being a natural left back, he ended up on the wrong side of the winger a few times. However, how can we not keep him as a squad player next season? He is Leeds, he always gives his all, and that one-two with Raphinha and the pass to Dallas was truly perfect.

There was a lot of strange decisions in this match Why was the tackle on Raphina not a red card. You could argue he was the last man too

I absolutely loved the way Dallas invited the rest of our warriors to celebrate the goal with him.

Dallas was clearly, by at least one metre, on-side when Alioski played his pass. But what a run by Dallas, and two absolute quality finishes from him.

If Cooper’s was a red, then even more so was Fernadinho’s, as he was the last man.

We do have a good team, good players individually, and in Bielsa the best manager. This win should remove any doubt he might have whether to continue with us - the future is White and bright. MOT

Interestingly enough there was a hint of offside in the build up to their equaliser... but VAR was not even considered.... But hey,we are Leeds and we expect adversity and when it happens we just get on with it... can you imagine if it was a Man City player who followed through in a tackle and got sent off? They'd have surrounded the ref and spat their dummies out.... If we pick up another 3 points against Liverpool and also beat Spurs,we a will actually have an outside chance of finishing 7th although we have already surpassed expectations and targets this season.... The mere fact that we still have a chance at all of finishing in the top 7 in our first season back in 16 years,just underlines what a magnificent coach Bielsa is... if I was Rad i would just say to Bielsa "whatever or whoever you want this summer,you've got it!".

Was Silva not offside for their goal when he received the ball? It was very tight and I'm surprised it didn't go to VAR.... he may have been level but don't know what the rules are these days!

Was it Fernandihno who took out Rapha in the last minute? That is a straight red all day long as he deliberately took the man and had no intention of playing the ball!!

Some shocking decisions made by the ref on free kicks given to them and not us....

Well BB another masterpiece awaits

Had we not had some dire luck with injuries to defenders most of the season, we could be in the top four or there about. However, there are21 points to play for and anything could happen still.

They say one man doesn't make a team, but one man has certainly made a reborn Leeds United.

The two footed challenge was glossed over because the defender hit his head on the ground. Not a knee like Heckingbottom claimed. Not even mentioned as a foul on MOTD.

I can’t say that the decision on Cooper’s red was wrong though. It’s just the consistency that irks.

VAR footnote: the winning goal could have been ruled out for offside (Costa) but they missed that too.....

Said it before, Sterling at the very least should have been booked twice for standing/stamping on Raph & Meslier. He wasn't even talked to by the ref.

Raph clean through, a dead cert red offence equals a yellow.

Imagine that being a Leeds player.

VAR would have been all over it.

They (VAR) are a disgrace.

Coops wins the ball with a very firm challenge and gets a red, didn't see the City player pulling out of the challenge either. Both were committed to get to the ball.

Last week Roberts could have broken his neck, VAR didn't even look at it.

Ref is an incompetent twat, must have been studying the Champions League game between City & Dortmund and he must have come to the conclusion the guys in blue get every decision.

Too right! Sterling should have gone!!!!

www.sportbible.com

Leeds skipper Liam Cooper was shown a red card following a VAR review

Am I missing something about when VAR is used and when it's not? If not, this just seems like outright bias?

But WBA still can. 😬

BTW TC10, we are officially safe now. Fulham cannot over take us. So please do not worry!!!! I knew all along!

What a performance! Imagine if we has our CBs this season playing where we could have been. Ref gave us f all, and wanted to carry on playing each half until Citeh could score.

VAR - total shambles. Baldcocks tackle of Tyler was worse. Rafa clearly take out and their guy does should have gone too!

Still justice was done for the good men in that Famous White Kit (well maybe it was sort of purple-ish).

Get the F in!!!! Leeds are back!!

Congrats Bull, 2 more games and you could be a Legend!

That certainly had me off the sofa and shouting get in at the tv. The dog looked at me like I was going mental.

What a brilliant performance, could we get in to Europe, would we want to. I think it might be a bit early, let's not mess about with the eufa league, straight in to the champions league the year after will do.

Well done