West Brom manager Steve Clarke has smashed the penalty decision that went against his side in the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday.
The Baggies were in for a difficult encounter as they travelled to the Emirates. Both teams had been fresh from defeats in the Premier League going into the game, and needed 3 points badly as the fight for a top 4 finish becomes tighter and more intense
than ever.
West Brom had a full strength team, but were without midfield enforcer http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Claudio-Yacob-c9331, who had pulled out of the side on account of a slight muscular niggle.
The game started evenly, with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 enjoying more of the possession later on and getting into West Brom’s box every chance they could. The hosts were by far the better side and dominant too. However, they lacked the cutting edge in front of goal and spurned
a number of glorious chances.
The game turned around when midfielder http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Santi-Cazorla-c32505 was deemed to have been brought down in the penalty area by West Brom defender Steven Reid.
On second viewing, it was clear that there had been no contact and Cazorla had in fact dived to win his side the spot kick. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mikel-Arteta-c25715 stepped up to convert and sent the home side firing into a 1-0 lead.
The second half was also more of the same, with West Brom trying to play keep-up with Arsenal’s midfield trio of Cazorla, Arteta and Wilshere. The hosts were then awarded a second penalty when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752 Oxlade-Chamberlain was brought down, and once again, Mikel
Arteta stepped up to extend his side’s lead.
Manager Steve Clarke was absolutely furious with the officiating, and suggested that the penalty decisions changed the game in Arsenal’s favour. The Scot said:
“There was zero contact on the first penalty decision. I’m not sure what the referee saw. I think there is a culture in the game now that if there is contact players will go down easier than they did a number of years ago – and they go down to draw the referee’s
attention to the fact that there was a slight contact.”
“I think there was no contact. It was a bad decision for us and it changed the shape of the afternoon.”
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