No Goalkeeper No Restart

The following incident occurred during the premier league match between Bolton and Manchester United on Saturday 27 March 2010. The final score was 0—4.

Towards the end of the first half, Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar is off the field of play when Bolton take a corner kick. Referee Martin Atkinson allows the restart. Had the ball gone in to the goal, it would have been an embarrassing moment for the referee.

[As Bolton (white) take a corner kick, goalkeeper Van der Sar (yellow) is off the field of play behind the goal line]

Note: A match is played by two teams, each consisting of not more than eleven players, one of whom is the goalkeeper.

[At half-time, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has words with referee Martin Atkinson (pic courtesy of Reuters)]

Managers have now approached referee Martin Atkinson at half-time in two consecutive premier league matches. The first was Arsene Wenger at the Arsenal v West Ham match a week earlier. This week, it was Alex Ferguson. To be fair, Ferguson apologized to the referee when the teams emerged for the second half restart.