Can you get called for a dive if you make a match-saving pass as you go down?
According to referee Kevin Friend, yes, you can.
Aston Villa was denied a 96th-minute equalizer in a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday as Friend disallowed a Henri Lansbury goal for a perceived Jack Grealish dive, despite the fact Grealish assisted the goal.
Huh?
Aston Villa, down to 10 men and trailing to a Jordan Ayew goal, was desperate to salvage a point late in the match. Grealish, Villa’s 23-year-old midfield dynamo, drove into the box as the match entered the sixth and final minute of stoppage time. Grealish was clipped at least once on his way into the box but maintained his balance and composure to find Lansbury on the right wing before throwing himself to the ground.
Lansbury buried the shot, but it was for naught.
Friend blew his whistle (before the shot) and called the play back for a Grealish dive.
Friend should not have blown his whistle for a dive — there was enough contact to warrant a foul, even if Grealish embellished on his fall. Friend should not have blown his whistle as the play developed — there’s no reason to punish a perceived dive so quickly when the ball is still in play. Friend should not have given a yellow for a dive as Grealish was continuing the play — the midfielder wasn’t even looking for a foul and got up to look for a rebound.
There was so much that Friend did wrong here, but not overturning his own incorrect call was one he actually made correctly. Because Friend blew his whistle before the shot went into the back of the net, it was impossible for him to correct his admittedly awful call to award Villa a goal.
But it was still a horrible way to end the match for the promoted side.
Aston Villa went down to 10 men early in the second half when Trézéguet was shown a second yellow for a clumsy challenge. Jordan Ayew didn’t really need the man advantage when he barreled through two defenders to score the game’s lone goal in the 73rd minute.
Scenes at Selhurst!
Jordan Ayew breaks the deadlock! pic.twitter.com/29UUaZs9KV— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) August 31, 2019
It was a goal worthy of earning Palace a victory, but in all truth it should have earned just a point.
On a personal note, I can relate to how Grealish is feeling. Once, in the final of a long, hot tournament, I was sent off for trying to quickly restart play after I had been fouled because the referee got in the way of my pass and assumed I was trying to kick it at him, and not my teammate making a great run in behind the defense. We lost in extra time; I’m still bitter and I hope that referee still thinks about his horrible call as much as I do.
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