"This is a penalty kick … Ah! This is too dramatic! " The commentator changed his tune at the last minute because he saw that after the referee blew his whistle, he did not point his finger at the penalty spot. Instead, he ran to Anelka, who was lying on the ground, and put his hand in his chest pocket.
Tang En stood on the sidelines with his mouth agape. He could hardly believe his eyes.
After a brief silence in the stands, there was a sudden ear-piercing booing.
Originally, the Forest players had rushed to Anelka to celebrate with a hug, but they ended up rushing to the referee instead.
When Anelka saw the referee's hand reach into his chest pocket, he jumped up from the ground. He immediately rushed to the front of the referee and grabbed his hand, trying to push the yellow corner back into his pocket.
"I didn't dive! This is a foul on them! A foul! " His eyes widened as he argued. The French striker, who usually appeared aloof and arrogant on the field, suddenly became agitated. "I didn't dive! I f * cking … "
He knew what it meant if he let the referee put his hand out. But could he stop the referee just like that?
The referee abruptly took a step back and broke free from Anelka's hands. With a straight face, he took his hand out from his chest pocket. A yellow card!
"This is Anelka's second yellow card of the game!"
The Forest players surrounded the referee, trying to stop him from raising the other colored card. Anelka froze for a second and suddenly wanted to rush into the crowd like a madman. However, he was tightly held by the two French compatriots, Ribéry and Chimbonda. They did not know what would happen if Anelka rushed in, but looking at his ferocious face now, it was really frightening.
"I didn't dive! I didn't! I didn't f * cking dive! " Anelka, who was being held tightly, roared loudly outside the crowd, but there was nothing he could do to change anything.
An arm was raised in the crowd. On top of it was a red card. It was a bright red, brighter than the Forest team's jersey.
Everyone looked up at the red card, including Anelka.
When he saw the red card, he suddenly stopped his meaningless roars and quietened down.
"Red card! Leave the field! "
Ribéry and Chimbonda felt that Anelka, who they were holding, had suddenly stopped struggling and slowly let go, but they still stayed close to each other, just in case.
Anelka suddenly smiled crookedly, then turned and walked off the field.
The boos above the City Ground Stadium were deafening. Apart from the boos, there was no other sound.
※ ※ ※
At the side of the field, Tang En angrily grabbed hold of the fourth official, the competition supervisor, England's golden whistle Frank Borl. Like an angry lion, he roared, "Look at the monitor! Look at the big screen! Which of the referee's eyes had seen Anelka dive?! Down there?! "
"Mr. Twain, please watch your words …" Frank warned.
"How can I pay attention? What do you want me to pay attention to? My player has been wrongly accused, and you want me to be careful with my words? Yes … you have the right. " Twain nodded, and then suddenly pointed to the referee on the field. "Then where the hell do I go to remind that bastard to pay attention to his call! Mr. Borl, you are Golden Whistle. Look at the match monitor, look! Is this a fake fall or not? "
Frank shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Twain. Perhaps this is a misjudgment, but the referee cannot make a call based on the televised image. This is FIFA's rule … "
"To hell with the rules!" Twain waved his fists, then abruptly turned around and returned to the technical area.
Frank looked at Twain's furious back and shook his head helplessly. It was not his first time dealing with this manager. He knew that once he was agitated, he would be a little impulsive. He thought about it, but in the end, he did not write the matter into the match report. The call just now was indeed a misjudgment. There was no problem with Anelka's breakthrough. The Nigerian turned too slowly, and his leg hooked the French striker.
It was a pity that the referee on duty for this match, Johansson, was still too young. He did not have enough experience in refereeing English Premier League matches. Even if the penalty for diving was fine, there was no need to show a yellow card. This was a mistake on top of a mistake.
He turned his head to look at the top of the grandstand. In a place he did not know, there were two supervisors from the referees' committee. They were responsible for scoring the performance of the referees in every match. Those with low scores would be ordered to stop refereeing English Premier League matches. This would affect their income, application for international referee qualifications, and assessment.
※ ※ ※
"Anelka was sent off with a red card. This means that he will not be able to follow the team to Highbury in the next round of the league tournament," the commentator said, shaking his head. "From the replay, this is indeed a misjudgment. The referee, Stephen Johansson, who has only seven English Premier League matches experience, made a mistake in this intense match. It's really a pity. Because of a young referee's mistake, Anelka missed out on Arsenal's match. It's not without reason that Manager Twain flew into a rage on the sidelines. His team's main striker, the team's top striker, and the core of their offense will miss out on the important match against Arsenal in the next match, all because of a misjudgment! "
※ ※ ※
Having been treated unfairly by the referees, the Forest Team, which was down a player, exploded with an even stronger offensive force. In the final stages of the match, the Forest Team obtained a chance for a direct free kick in the front field. Arteta took the penalty and sent the football into Everton's goal. The Forest Team finally defeated Everton by 2: 1 at the last moment.
In the post-match press conference, the referee's decision became the focus of everyone's attention. Twain naturally did not let go of this opportunity. Even though his team had won, he still harshly reprimanded the young referee's performance.
"… Yes, the rules of the referee stipulate that diving is to be severely punished, and those who do so will have to be shown a yellow card as a warning. But I would like to ask Mr. Stephen Johansson, are you sure you saw Anelka dive? The rules are there to allow you to strike down true cheaters, not for you to flaunt your authority in front of the players! "
"We'll sort out the video of this match and appeal to the league committee."
※ ※ ※
The next morning, the Forest Team submitted the video of the match and the appeal materials to the league committee. But in view of England's bureaucratic style, with two days left before the match against Arsenal, no one knew if Anelka would be able to appear in Highbury …
(To be continued. If you wish to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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