Quote:
Originally Posted by Addick
Like I said before, the only thing I feel hard done by is the fact that Barton only got a yellow and that is all he can get. I think the penalty issue is simply interesting as it looked as though the initial dive was not going to be penalized as play was allowed to continue. Barton's actions are what caused the stoppage in play no?
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One of the replays showed the ref running up field, and he wasn't signalling advantage, so yes, technically it was the Barton incident that stopped play. I would have loved the ref to blow the whistle and card the dive, or at least signal advantage. That same replay shows that the ref had no idea what was going on behind him initially (as Barton "helped him up"), so I think that opinions of the assistant referees weighed heavily in the discipline, particularly for Barton. I kind of wonder if any of them actually saw it.