It must be hard for the players to take. After working terribly hard against such a talented Manchester City side, Stuart Attwell sent Gary Caldwell off for a good tackle on Carlos Tevez.
In reality, Tevez was the player who jumped in two footed and it is likely that the Latics will appeal the decision. Even if the card is over-turned though it doesn't retract the inadequate decision making of a rash referee that could well have cost the Latics a vital point in the relegation battle.
Martinez was perhaps right to call Attwell a liar. Despite saying that Caldwell went in with two feet (when he clearly went in with one) Attwell still rashly produced the red card. Saying that, just ask Watford fans, Attwell can see things that don't actually happen!
Looking at the performance, Roberto Martinez had organised his team very well and we looked difficult to break down and had the better of the chances. Hugo Rodallega, Paul Scharner and Marcelo Moreno all had chances for the Latics.
However it was always going to be difficult when Caldwell was sent for an early bath and that proved to be the case as Carlos Tevez netted his second Manchester city hat-trick to win the game for the Laser Blues.
If only I could get away with such professional incompetence as Stuart Attwell at work today. Making referee's professionals earning six figure salaries has certainly enhanced the quality of the refereeing in the Premier League... or maybe not.
Here is the reaction of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
I was feeling confident going in to the last half an hour, but the key decision was a real footballing injustice and the players don't deserve to feel the way they are feeling now.
Gary (Caldwell) went in for the ball really strongly, Carlos Tevez sees it coming and jumps off the ground with both feet. If anyone deserves a red card, it is the striker. The referee has to be certain to give a decision like that - and you cannot be certain because you look at it again on the replay and it not a red card.
But as always you cannot do anything about decisions, and it has been that way all season. We have never had one bit of luck all season and it adds to the injustice that we might lose Gary for three matches.
We will look into an appeal, because we cannot just accept being punished not just for this game but for the next three games. The players applied themselves in a great manner, and from an open play point of view we looked dangerous.
You work extremely hard all week to prepare for a game and when the game is decided by a real footballing injustice it really hurts. For the first hour of the game we coped really well with their threat, and we looked a threat when we broke ourselves.
We created two or three opportunities and you hoped we had enough quality to take them but we just couldn't. With a bit more composure and a clinical touch we could have taken advantage.
Tactically I thought we were better than Manchester City and we were coping with their threat very well. Moments like this are very, very hard to take. What we have to do now is react in the right manner, as we always do, and make sure we work even harder to make things happen.
It's not been a season of being given things lightly - we have had to work extremely hard for everything we have got. Moreno worked extremely hard and is getting closer to the tempo in the Premier League.
He was a real threat to them, and overall you couldn't fault any of our players. Charles has recovered quicker than we expected, and it was great to see out there on the pitch. He looks like he will be back to full fitness very soon.
Roberto Mancini
The result was the most important. I think in the second half we played better than the first half. I didn't like the first half because for me we didn't play good football. But we changed the tempo, probably after the red card the game was changed.
It was a good performance by Carlos. He scored three important goals and we won this game. I am happy with him. He is scoring a lot of goals and has always been a good player. He is a young player, who is improving every year.
The table
| Latest match Monday, 29th March 2010 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Manchester United | 32 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 44 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 32 | 16 | 23 | 3 | 6 | 76 | 25 | 72 | +51 | ||||
| 2 | Chelsea | 32 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 52 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 30 | 15 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 82 | 29 | 71 | +53 | ||||
| 3 | Arsenal | 32 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 43 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 19 | 21 | 5 | 6 | 74 | 34 | 68 | +40 | ||||
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 31 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 35 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 57 | 29 | 58 | +28 | ||||
| 5 | Manchester City | 31 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 25 | 23 | 15 | 11 | 5 | 58 | 39 | 56 | +19 | ||||
| 6 | Liverpool | 32 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 19 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 53 | 32 | 54 | +21 | ||||
| 7 | Aston Villa | 31 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 26 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 6 | 43 | 32 | 51 | +11 | ||||
| 8 | Everton | 32 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 30 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 20 | 24 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 50 | 42 | 49 | +8 | ||||
| 9 | Birmingham City | 32 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 33 | 37 | 45 | -4 | ||||
| 10 | Blackburn Rovers | 32 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 24 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 36 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 35 | 50 | 41 | -15 | ||||
| 11 | Stoke City | 31 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 21 | 19 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 30 | 35 | 39 | -5 | ||||
| 12 | Fulham | 31 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 25 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 33 | 36 | 38 | -3 | ||||
| 13 | Sunderland | 32 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 27 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 14 | 34 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 41 | 50 | 35 | -9 | ||||
| 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 32 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 30 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 28 | 50 | 32 | -22 | ||||
| 15 | Bolton Wanderers | 32 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 22 | 27 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 33 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 36 | 60 | 32 | -24 | ||||
| 16 | Wigan Athletic | 32 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 42 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 29 | 62 | 31 | -33 | ||||
| 17 | West Ham United | 32 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 25 | 26 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 29 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 38 | 55 | 27 | -17 | ||||
| 18 | Hull City | 31 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 42 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 31 | 64 | 27 | -33 | ||||
| 19 | Burnley | 32 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 11 | 47 | 6 | 6 | 20 | 31 | 65 | 24 | -34 | ||||
| 20 | Portsmouth (-9) | 32 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 20 | 29 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 31 | 6 | 4 | 22 | 28 | 60 | 13 | -32 | ||||
Next game
Next up for the Latics is the trip to Fulham on Sunday. The game kicks off at 15.00 and is a cracking opportunity for Roberto Martinez and his team to pull further away from the drop zone.
