A pleasant surprise

Referee and assistants

Mr. Nikolaev had had his debut in the current season of the CL and had taken the brunt of our reporter at that event. However in Rome he performed like they should perform in Rome - very well indeed. There were no arbitrary reactions, no exaggerated interference where there shouldn`t have been one. Generally, the advantage rule was adhered to in a nice manner. There was one moment where one felt a lack of concentration - the 64th minute when 2-3 fouls were committed by players of both teams without the whistle being blown. Mr. Nikolaev was also too lenient towards Basel`s striker Streller who got away without being cautioned though committing too many nasty fouls. As for the assistant referees, Mr. Golubov was not very convincing, either by waiving his flag for offside when there was none or by waiting for too long before flagging for an obvious one. Mr. Averianov was much better, though the free kick he had given in favour of Basel in the 55th minute should have been given the other way round, as The Basel player made the infringement.