So Norwegian, So Scandinavian

The game

The first half was dominated by Bayern though without real threat to the Arsenal goal, while Arsenal had almost no influence on the direction of the game. Thus the ref could easily manage through. The second half was lively and entertaining, as both sides tried to put pressure on each other and score goals. A Bayern goal (Schweinsteiger, 55') got a quick Arsenal response (Podolski, 57'), and both sides went on the attack, ending up with goalie Fabianski thwarting Muller of scoring from the penalty-spot. Thus Arsenal kept intact their record of not losing on German soil, though Bayern were to promote to the quarter-finals of the CL.

Mr. Moen

Everything went well for the ref till the 57th minute. Then, Podolski blatantly pushed Lahm deep inside the Bayern penalty-area, got possession of the ball, and scored the equalizer for Arsenal, while the Bavarians were looking at the ref, waiting for his whistle to go. Mr. Moen, well positioned, on the edge of the penalty-area had nothing to do with the incident, let play on, and allowed the goal. In the next twenty-odd minutes, he just "lost it". Clear fouls were not penalized while trifles were reacted upon, letting players aggrieved at his decisions. The way he booked Martinez (79') was a good indication of the referee's demeanour in those minutes. Martinez, adjudged fouling an opponent, went quickly back to a defensive position. Mr. Moen shouted at him from afar, for some lengthy seconds, and then brandished the yellow card. He should have done it more elegantly by calling the player by a hand gesture to move towards the referee, listen from close distance to what Mr. Moen has to say, and watch the card shown to him. Luckily for the ref tempers cooled down in the last ten minutes, but in stoppage time, Mr. Moen compounded his series of mistakes with a penalty-kick decision in favour of Bayern. Nobody could see any foul-play by Arsenal's Koscielny when he tussled with Robben for the ball deep inside the Londoners penalty-area. Nobody but the referee. Thouugh perfectly positioned, actually the closest on earth to the incident, Mr. Moen so the unseeable, thought the unthinkable, and awarded a penalty-kick.