APOEL - F91 Dudelange, Dumitru Muntean

EL debut for the Moldovan referee in a seemingly easy match. However, I wasn't impressed by his performance.

The whistled penalty at 54' is a correct decision. N24 of DUD tackles his opponent N11 APO and commits a foul. Referee is very close and decides correctly.

There is another penalty appeal at 79' but the holding is mutual and the APOEL player N20 exaggerates the fall.

Muntean had a quite good foul detection (good no-foul at min. 23' right outside DUD penalty area as APOEL player tries to take advantage of a slight contact). Good decision to bring back play and caution N6 APOEL since the advantage wasn't successful (87').

However, his management of the match was poor. During the first half was had several cases of P.I. with DUD players (N28, N8) committing a number of fouls without any action taken by the referee (Dudelange committed 22 fouls and had only 2 cautions). The only warning (min. 14') was really passive and the player ignored the referee. Muntean seemed to not communicate with the players. He just whistled and went backwards.

Moreover he seemed to have lost his concentration after 80'. There are 2 scenes which indicate that. At min. 84' the referee whistles for a foul and the APOEL defender tries to play fast. The referee stops play and orders the free-kick to be retaken due to incorrect placement of the ball. The free-kick is retaken 3 times in total. The referee is quite meticulous at the spesific scene, creating some tension.

Finally at min. 89' he stops a corner-kick before being executed probably to make a warning for pulling/pushing. But he does nothing while the APOEL player waits shouting to execute the corner-kick. After 15'' he allows the execution. I can't understand what was he thinking at the time.

Finally, his positioning and movement. He was, most of the time, very close to the ball (10', 20') and there was a high risk that he would get caught into play. At 80' he was hit by the ball outside DUD Penalty area and APOEL gained possession. The referee restarted with drop-ball (correct decision).

Muntean showed that he lacks experience for that level. He is not completely ready and needs more time before another possible EL GS appointment.

LAW 5 - THE REFEREE BLOG REPORTER:
Edward