Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger criticises stoppage-time penalty for Liverpool – EPL news
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has criticised referee Andre Marriner after the official gave Liverpool a stoppage-time penalty, which enabled the Reds to rescue a point from the game.
The Gunners hosted Liverpool in an English Premier League encounter recently. After a remarkable turn of events, the game finished 1-1 leaving the two sides to share the spoils.
Wenger has questioned the stoppage-time penalty in the game and insisted that the referee should have blown his whistle prior to the move which enabled the Reds to be awarded a penalty.
He said, “We conceded a penalty after 11 minutes when the referee said there was eight minutes of injury time, I don't see where those three minutes came from and it was no penalty.”
Eight minutes of stoppage-time was initially awarded because of injury to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jamie-Carragher-c17728. A clash of heads with teammate John Flanagan forced Carragher to retire early from the game.
Arsenal looked to collect maximum points from the game when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380 stepped up to take the 98th minute spot-kick and slotted home what appeared to be the winner for his side.
However, four minutes later, a penalty was awarded at the other end as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dirk-Kuyt-c11348 made no mistake from the resulting penalty kick and levelled the score.
The draw against the Reds has surely dented the Gunners title aspirations as they now trail EPL leaders Manchester United by 6 points with only six games remaining in the season.
The Frenchman added that in recent times Arsenal have had crucial decisions go against them. He referred to the 0-0 draw against Sunderland when the Gunners had a goal disallowed and were denied what appeared to be a clear-cut penalty.
The Gunners boss admitted the result has been disappointing but he has urged his side to keep their title hopes alive by winning the remaining fixtures in the season, including a crucial match against the Red Devils on 1 May, 2011.
Arsenal travel to White Hart Lane to face derby rivals Tottenham Hotspur in their next EPL fixture on 20 April, 2011.
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