Helpful Linesman Hurts United; Barcelona Is Handed First Loss Since April
Manchester United conceded a contentious penalty after a linesman intervened in its 1-1 tie with Newcastle at Old Trafford on Saturday, dealing a blow to its bid to retain the English Premier League title.
United defender Rio Ferdinand was judged to have brought down Hatem Ben Arfa in the 61st minute, although replays suggested Ferdinand had made a perfectly legal tackle. The referee, Mike Jones, appeared happy to award a corner but a linesman, John Flynn, indicated a penalty should be awarded, causing several angry United players to surround the officials.
Demba Ba kept his composure to convert the penalty after a two-minute delay, drawing Newcastle even after United went ahead in the 49th minute on Javier Hernández’s goal.
“I didn’t think anyone in the ground thought it was a penalty apart from the assistant referee,” United Manager Alex Ferguson said.
Newcastle played the last 12 minutes with 10 men after Jonás Gutiérrez was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Patrice Evra.
Hernández had a goal disallowed for offside in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Second-place United is four points behind Manchester City, which plays at Liverpool on Sunday.
Third-place Tottenham closed within two points of United as Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice in a 3-1 win at West Bromwich Albion, and Chelsea scored three times in the first half for a 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton. Arsenal slipped two points behind the Blues after defender Thomas Vermaelen scored a goal after giving up an own goal in a 1-1 tie against Fulham.
FIRST LOSS FOR BARCELONA Real Madrid extended its lead to six points in the Spanish league after a comeback 4-1 win against nine-man Atlético Madrid and Barcelona’s first loss of the season.
Real Madrid overcame an early goal by Atlético to win its ninth straight league match and maintain its 12-year unbeaten run in the Spanish capital derby. The win was even sweeter when Getafe edged out Barcelona, 1-0, on Juan Valera’s second-half header. The defeat ended Barcelona’s 27-game unbeaten run, which dated to April.
JUVENTUS BACK IN FIRST Simone Pepe scored to give Juventus a 1-0 win at Lazio, putting his team back on top of the Serie A standings. Juventus took a one-point lead over Udinese, which had briefly held the top spot after its 2-0 win over Roma on Friday. Lazio is three points behind.
BUNDESLIGA LEAD CHANGE Borussia Dortmund took the league lead in Germany by defeating Schalke, 2-0. Dortmund had not beaten Schalke at home since 2007 but has now won seven of its last eight league games.
CRASH KILLS 6 IN TOGO At least six top-flight Togolese soccer players were killed and another 28 people were critically injured after a bus carrying their team plunged into a ravine and caught fire. In a statement read on national television, the government said those injured from the Etoile Filante club had been taken to the military wing of the Lome Central Hospital to receive urgent medical attention.
Manchester United conceded a contentious penalty after a linesman intervened in its 1-1 tie with Newcastle at Old Trafford on Saturday, dealing a blow to its bid to retain the English Premier League title.
United defender Rio Ferdinand was judged to have brought down Hatem Ben Arfa in the 61st minute, although replays suggested Ferdinand had made a perfectly legal tackle. The referee, Mike Jones, appeared happy to award a corner but a linesman, John Flynn, indicated a penalty should be awarded, causing several angry United players to surround the officials.
Demba Ba kept his composure to convert the penalty after a two-minute delay, drawing Newcastle even after United went ahead in the 49th minute on Javier Hernández’s goal.
“I didn’t think anyone in the ground thought it was a penalty apart from the assistant referee,” United Manager Alex Ferguson said.
Newcastle played the last 12 minutes with 10 men after Jonás Gutiérrez was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Patrice Evra.
Hernández had a goal disallowed for offside in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Second-place United is four points behind Manchester City, which plays at Liverpool on Sunday.
Third-place Tottenham closed within two points of United as Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice in a 3-1 win at West Bromwich Albion, and Chelsea scored three times in the first half for a 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton. Arsenal slipped two points behind the Blues after defender Thomas Vermaelen scored a goal after giving up an own goal in a 1-1 tie against Fulham.
FIRST LOSS FOR BARCELONA Real Madrid extended its lead to six points in the Spanish league after a comeback 4-1 win against nine-man Atlético Madrid and Barcelona’s first loss of the season.
Real Madrid overcame an early goal by Atlético to win its ninth straight league match and maintain its 12-year unbeaten run in the Spanish capital derby. The win was even sweeter when Getafe edged out Barcelona, 1-0, on Juan Valera’s second-half header. The defeat ended Barcelona’s 27-game unbeaten run, which dated to April.
JUVENTUS BACK IN FIRST Simone Pepe scored to give Juventus a 1-0 win at Lazio, putting his team back on top of the Serie A standings. Juventus took a one-point lead over Udinese, which had briefly held the top spot after its 2-0 win over Roma on Friday. Lazio is three points behind.
BUNDESLIGA LEAD CHANGE Borussia Dortmund took the league lead in Germany by defeating Schalke, 2-0. Dortmund had not beaten Schalke at home since 2007 but has now won seven of its last eight league games.
CRASH KILLS 6 IN TOGO At least six top-flight Togolese soccer players were killed and another 28 people were critically injured after a bus carrying their team plunged into a ravine and caught fire. In a statement read on national television, the government said those injured from the Etoile Filante club had been taken to the military wing of the Lome Central Hospital to receive urgent medical attention.
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