Referees have cost Arsenal the English Premier League season – Part 3
Article Continued from part two of the article…
Arsenal vs Barcelona (Champions League 2nd round 2nd leg. Final score Barcelona wins 4-3 on aggregate)
This was by far the worst decision a referee could make in a match. With the game firmly in Arsenal’s grip with the scores tied at 1-1 and Arsenal leading 3-2 on aggregate, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 needed to score 1 goal to take it into extra time and two goals to win the
match. However, Arsenal needed just one goal to take the tie away from Barcelona.
In the 56th minute Robin Van Persie was shown a second yellow card and subsequently sent off for kicking the ball after the whistle had gone out. What was strange about the decision was that not even one single second had passed between the whistle
and Robin Van Persie kicking the ball but the referee sent him off and handed Barcelona the advantage.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380 explained to the referee and later said in his post-match interview that 90,000 fans were in that stadium screaming and it was impossible for him to hear the whistle on top of all the noise.
Everyone on and off screen was surprised by the red card because the ball was on the boot of the Dutchman when the whistle went off and that was by no means a red card.
Arsenal was a man down and later conceded goals and lost the tie on aggregate. This went on to hurt the Londoners as they were unable to recover from the defecit.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 vs Wigan Athletic (Final score Arsenal and Wigan on level terms at 2 goals apiece)
Brimming with confidence after a 3-1 demolition of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 a few days ago, the Arsenal team travelled to Wigan in a bid to gain momentum and push for the top spot in the Premier League.
However, the story at DW stadium was far from what Arsenal fans had expected and a 2-2 draw brought the delirious fans back to earth. This match was marred by a couple of refereeing blunders all of which went Wigan’s way and Arsene Wenger was left fuming.
The furore kicked started in the 17th minute when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ben-Watson-c7458 walked up to take the spot kick and duly converted
it to hand Wigan an unlikely lead.
There was no doubt to the fact that Koscielny had his leg in the path of the Wigan midfielder but he was quick to withdraw it before the midfielder ran past him with the replays showing that there was minimal contact.
The match official, Lee Probert did not hesitate for even a second and awarded the penalty right away. It was by all means a soft penalty and even the commentators were divided in opinion on whether it was a penalty or not. Less than a quarter of the match
had gone and the gunners were down by a harsh goal.
Article Continued in part four of Referees have cost Arsenal the English Premier League season
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