7. Fernando Torres's Red For "Diving", 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko6wqg_RG3Q It seems as though scandalous refereeing and Manchester United go hand in hand actually because here we have another example of United benefiting from a truly bonkers reffing decision, again in 2012, with whistle-blower Mark Clattenburg the culprit this time after making a right old mess of it during Chelsea's clash with the Red Devils at Stamford Bridge. This one is another example of how one bad refereeing decision can ruin a game and turn the match on its head. United had roared into a 2-0 lead against the Blues, but they rallied to level the scores at 2-2. Branislav Ivanovic was sent off for a professional foul on Ashley Young, which was a correct decision at least, but the second red card of this game wasn't. Chelsea were sent down to NINE men when Fernando Torres was adjudged to have dived under contact from Jonny Evans. Replays clearly showed the United defender tripped Torres, but Clattenburg took a different view as he awarded the Spaniard his second yellow of the game, leaving his side at a considerable disadvantage with the score still locked at 2-2. United took advantage of their numerical superiority and made it 3-2 under similarly contentious circumstances with Javier Hernandez bagging the winner from a clearly offside position, but Clattenburg and his assistants missed it and the goal was dubiously allowed to stand as one of the most mistake-riddled Premier League games came to a close.
Joseph Dempsey
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Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
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