Eduardo is confronted by angry Celtic players following his dive

Liverpool's Pepe Reina is deceived by the beach ball against Sunderland

Ashley Cole after being challenged by Darren Fletcher

Top 10: Ref gaffes

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Richard Bailey takes a look at some of the biggest refereeing gaffes of the season so far

Normally constructing a top 10 list requires you to rack your brains and trawl through your memory bank while using a variety of obscure websites and forums for inspiration.

However this week's topic has brought about the rare situation whereby incidents are rolling off the tongue. The subject is of course referee mistakes.

Before you jump to the conclusion that this article revels in the public stoning of the man in the middle we have tried - where possible - to abstain from entirely laying all the blame at the hands of the officials and look at things from their perspective.

The referee has the most unenviable task on the pitch. He can never win. Get a decision wrong and he is castigated, have a quiet and unassuming game and he is labelled 'unfit' and in 'need of a rest' during matches.

But, however hard their job is there doesn't seem to be a weekend which has passed without some sort of controversy this campaign.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson stated on Sunday after his side's 1-0 defeat to title rivals Chelsea that his players were losing faith with referees for their inability to get the big decisions right after another incident packed encounter at Stamford Bridge - more of that later.

Here Skysports.com highlights some decisions that left you either scratching your head in disbelief, thanking your lucky stars or screaming expletives at the man in black - or perhaps all three at the same time.

David Ngog's theatrics - Liverpool v Birmingham

Let us begin with the latest incident. Liverpool were heading for their seventh defeat in nine matches after goals from Christian Benitez and Cameron Jerome had cancelled out David Ngog's 13th minute opener. However the young Frenchman saw an opportunity when Lee Carsley came hurtling towards him in the area on 70 minutes. Ngog duly went to ground, even though replays showed Carsley had not touched the striker, and captain Steven Gerrard dispatched the spot-kick to save Rafa Benitez's blushes. In defence of referee Peter Walton, the challenge did look clumsy and the question of why the experienced Carsley went to ground in the area in the first place must surely be asked.

Eduardo dive - Arsenal v Celtic

Celtic travelled to Emirates Stadium with a mountain to climb having lost 2-0 at home to the Gunners in the first-leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifier but a steady start in North London saw their confidence grow. That was until Eduardo took centre stage. The striker touched the ball past the onrushing Artur Boruc before gracefully falling to the turf despite the Hoops keeper pulling his arms away at the last moment. Spanish referee Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez awarded the penalty - to his defence it was not until watching the replay did it become clear of Eduardo's theatrics - and the frontman dusted himself down and slotted home the spot-kick as Arsenal went on to win 3-1.

Geovanni's free-kick 'goal' - Burnley v Hull City

They say that luck tends to desert you when you are scrapping for your life at the bottom of the table and that was certainly the case for Hull at Turf Moor. With just two wins all season, many expected manager Phil Brown to follow chairman Paul Duffen, who stood down two days before, out of the exit door at the KC Stadium. Brown knew that three points against Burnley would keep the wolves from the door but he was duly denied a share of the spoils by referee Mike Jones. Tigers ace Geovanni looked to have equalised Graham Alexander's opener with a curling free-kick only for Jones to cut short the celebrations and award Burnley a free-kick after spotting some pushing in the wall. The fact that Jones was the only man in the ground to see the incident didn't seem to deter him and he duly booked the Brazilian for his protests before sending him off for a second bookable offence with 20 minutes remaining.

Hunt left bewildered - Burnley v Hull City

As if the Geovanni incident was not bad enough manager Phil Brown was already fuming after conceding what can only be described as a phantom penalty. The hard-working Stephen Hunt was diligently back-tracking to pick up the run of Burnley's Tyrone Mears when the right-back seemed to fall over his own feet in the area. Unbelievably Mr Jones pointed to the spot and penalty king Graham Alexander thumped the ball home to give the hosts a generous 1-0 lead.

Beach ball deflates Liverpool - Sunderland v Liverpool

Perhaps the biggest controversy of the season so far occurred when Liverpool travelled to the Stadium of Light looking to put defeats to Fiorentina and Chelsea firmly behind them. Their cause, however, was not helped when a tame Darren Bent shot, seemingly going straight into the arms of goalkeeper Pepe Reina, deflected off a stray beach ball and into the net. After a quick study of the rule book it was discovered that any goal that is assisted by an 'outside agent' should be disallowed and a drop ball awarded. However the man in charge, you guessed it, Mike Jones, allowed the goal to stand handing the Black Cats a 1-0 win. To rub salt in the wounds it was later revealed that the ball was thrown onto the pitch by a Reds supporter and bought at the club's own megastore.

Keane claims waved away - Chelsea v Tottenham

Tottenham travelled to London rivals Chelsea in high spirits having won four of their opening five Premier League games but that was soon about to change as the Blues ran away 3-0 winners at Stamford Bridge. But it could all have been so different had Howard Webb awarded the visitors a penalty on 54 minutes. With Chelsea leading 1-0, Spurs were denied a blatant penalty when Robbie Keane bore down on goal only to be tripped by the outstretched leg of Ricardo Carvalho. Webb sensationally waved away the protests leaving Keane to question why he hadn't been booked if the referee thought he had dived. It was a question which had the official stumped.

Adebayor stamp - Manchester City v Arsenal

Referee Mark Clattenburg could do little as Emmanuel Adebayor raced from one end of the pitch to the other to celebrate his strike against former club Arsenal in front of the Gunners fans. The Togo international was understandably booked for his actions but the fact that he was still on the pitch was beyond belief. To say Arsenal players were targeting Adebayor was an understatement but when Robin Van Persie slid in on the frontman he could not have been expecting what happened next. In a cunning attack, Adebayor raked his studs down the side of his ex-team-mates face and although the City ace received a three game ban when the incident was reviewed by the Football Association, Clattenburg failed to punish Adebayor at the time even though he was perfectly placed just a few yards away from challenge.

Too many to mention - Chelsea v Manchester United

To say Manchester United felt aggrieved coming off the pitch at the final whistle having just lost 1-0 to Chelsea on Sunday is an understatement. The champions had just fallen five points behind the Blues at the top of the table to a controversial John Terry goal. The free-kick awarded by referee Martin Atkinson which led to the goal appeared dubious as replays showed that Darren Fletcher won the ball from Ashley Cole but what happened next was a calamitous list of mistakes. Just as John Terry headed home, via Nicolas Anelka's back, Didier Drobga was manhandling United defender Wes Brown to the ground and distracting Edwin Van der Sar in the visitors' goal by poking a boot at the passing ball when in an offside position. The goal stood and the rest is history.

Wolves hard done-by - Wolves v Portsmouth

Portsmouth travelled north in search of their first win of the season and they duly got it; albeit with the help of referee Howard Webb. Mick McCarthy's men were trailing to a Hassan Yebda goal in the first-half when they rallied forward in search of an equaliser through winger Michael Kightly. The wide man looked to cross but saw his effort come off the arm of Pompey defender Marc Wilson. Wilson protested his innocence by patting his chest to indicate where he thought the ball had hit but even he, deep down, must have been fearing the inevitable. Instead Webb saved Wilson's blushes and Paul Hart's side went on to record a 1-0 victory.

Lighting strikes twice - Wolves v Aston Villa

For weeks Wolves had gone on about being continuously denied blatant penalties but it was only after the Midlands derby with Aston Villa that people started to believe they might have a case. Having been denied fairly nailed on spot-kicks at Sunderland and against Portsmouth in previous games at Molineux, Wolves could have been forgiven for thinking that the referee fraternity had a vendetta against them after Peter Walton waved away their latest protests. Kevin Doyle had seemingly got the wrong side of Villa defender Richard Dunne and was pulled down by the Irishman in the area. However Wolves fans couldn't believe their eyes when Walton waved play on. Luckily for the official, Wolves didn't lose and managed to gain a credible 1-1 draw.

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