With Sunday's match still fresh in the mind and occupying sports-page space, columnist and Matthew Harding season ticket holder Giles Smith adds his voice to those who've had their (highly unbalanced) say.

I've read the papers and I've watched the television since Sunday's exquisite victory over Manchester United and I don't know about you but I've noticed a certain amount of controversy getting aired about a refereeing decision at the match's pivotal moment.

And I've had a good old think about the incident myself and come to a conclusion of my own. And, without wishing to stick my head above the parapet or make myself unpopular, I'm going to set it down, as clearly as I can, here on the website.

Put simply, it's this: I think the referee got it wrong.

There. I've said it. You may disagree, and that's your right. But I'm trying to be as impartial as I can and base my retrospective judgement, in as much as possible, on the cold evidence as it presents itself, leaving all club allegiance aside. And I think the referee made a mistake.

He should have given a straight red to Jonny Evans for that studs-up assault on Didier Drogba's rib-cage. And yet he didn't. So he was wrong.

Now, you may argue that Evans's challenge only warranted a yellow - that there was no malice there, that it was merely a 'coming together' of the two players in a contest for the ball.

But look at it again, if you get the chance. The United player looks, to me, like he knows exactly what he's doing. One could try to veer towards the positive side and suggest that it was merely an instance of dreadful clumsiness. But that, too, can merit a red, if the clumsiness is clumsy enough.

And it was a pivotal moment, because Evans took our main striker out of the game at the point where we were hungrily in search of the second goal that would have put the match out of United's trembling reach. (And also at the point where it would have been more than handy to have him at the back, defending that string of last-minute corners.)

So, can we agree to call it a mistake?

Even so, I'm not about to go hounding the referee, who otherwise had an excellent game, in highly testing circumstances. Let's face it, there were United players in his face for the entire 95 minutes, en masse, protesting every decision that went against them and even, in Darren Fletcher's case, some of the decisions that went for them.

It must be very hard to work in those circumstances - not least when you can hardly go across to the players' manager in the dug out and appeal for some calm. After all, at United, ruthlessly undermining the referee's authority at every available opportunity, and in an unpleasant, bullying manner, is an approach to business that appears to be coming from the top.

So, credit to Martin Atkinson, who acquitted himself well, in the main. We're so quick to criticise refs, and so slow to offer them praise when it's due. It's nice to be able to, on this occasion.

Funny, though, isn't it, how the Evans controversy has bulked so small in the arguments since the match? You've got an incident in which a player almost snaps another player's ribs with the underside of his boot, kung fu-style, some five feet, at least, off the ground. And yet people have tended instead to concentrate, to the exclusion of all else, on more trifling matters, such as whether Wayne Rooney was offside in the first half (he might not have been), and whether the challenge on Ashley Cole truly merited a free kick (it probably did) and whether or not Didier Drogba was offside when the goal was scored (he wasn't).

You could almost think that Sir Alex Ferguson was being allowed to set the agenda for post-match debates in media outlets whose representatives are too intimidated to question him. But that couldn't possibly be the case, could it?

Never mind. The key thing is that an important victory was secured which has left us no fewer than 11 points clear at the top of the table. (Clear of Liverpool, that is. Well, everyone has their own way of measuring of how well the season is going. That just happens to be mine.)

So, looking ahead to the weekend… Hang on - where did all the football go? Oh, yes: it's an international week. Again. What can you do, except heave another deep sigh?

We've campaigned tirelessly against international breaks in this column for a number of seasons now. And yet, incredibly, the authorities have yet to sit up and listen.

What can you do, in such circumstances? Keep carrying the candle, obviously, draw breath and re-state your case.

Which is this: there's a time for international football. It's the summer.