Rob Styles was so wrong on Ronaldo it beggars belief

I don't look for perfection from referees and I rarely castigate them for errors that naturally will happen in the course of a match. But when Ronaldo at full pelt was confronted with an onrushing Antii Niemi in last night's Manchester United v Fulham match there was only two things he could physically do: run into the keeper and be given a penalty or leap over him to avoid what could be a sickening collision and be given a penalty.

So when Rob Styles blew his whistle and yellow-carded Ronaldo this was not just an error - it showed a fundamental lack of understanding as to the rules of the game from a Premier League standard referee.

It is irrelevant whether Niemi touched Ronaldo or not - the fact is that Ronaldo had to leap over Niemi otherwise he would have been bought down. Surely this is basic knowledge for a Premier League referee. The pace at which Ronaldo was running combined with the way Niemi ran and dived in his way meant there was no way Ronaldo could have avoided Niemi and stayed on his feet.

For Ronaldo to be booked is outrageous. He clapped his hands at Styles when given the booking which is quite a restrained response given the lunacy of the decision. He may have a reputation for diving but that was certainly no dive and Rob Styles should have clearly seen it that way. After his bizarre penalty award to Chelsea at Anfield earlier this season it really is time for Styles to look carefully at his quality of decision-making in and around the penalty area.