Holding is an Offence 2

It is good to see Referees being consistent. Only a few days ago, a holding offence in the penalty area was correctly given.

In yesterday's Carling Cup semi-final first leg between Manchester City and Manchester United, referee Mike Dean correctly awarded a penalty when United fullback Rafael da Silva committed a holding offence against City forward Craig Bellamy.

Mike Dean whistled and pointed to the spot. He also put two fingers up to indicate publicly that there were two offences. The first holding offence occurred outside the penalty area, and the second offence occurred inside. It is interesting to observe how the United players only focused on telling the Referee that the offence occurred outside the penalty area. Nevermind the second offence!!

[The first holding offence occurred outside the penalty area.]

[The second holding offence continued inside the penalty area.]