Referees have cost Arsenal the English Premier League season – Part 4
Article continued from part three of the article…
The Gunners problems did not end there. In the 85th minute, a Wigan defender handled the ball off a Nasri free kick. His hands were clearly raised and although the Arsenal players were protesting in full strength the referee waved play on, much to
the anger of the away fans. This handball reminded everyone of the Fabregas incident in the match against Tottenham where the same thing happened only for the referee to rightly award the penalty. What happened now was difficult to understand.
The Gunners were awarded a penalty against them due to the same handball rule and this time when they were to receive the penalty, none was awarded and the same rule was not applied.
Had these two decisions gone in favour of the Gunners, Arsenal would have not only won the match but would have been piling the pressure on Manchester United for the top spot.
Arsenal vs Newcastle United (The match ended in an unlikely 4-4 draw)
This has been undoubtedly the best comeback in the history of the English League and there is no denying the resolve and the determination of the Newcastle players who fought till the end and clinched one of the biggest draws of their life.
However, it would not have been possible if it weren’t for the horrendous officiating of the referee.
Arsenal took a comfortable lead in the first quarter of the match, hitting the back of the net four times and it was increasingly looking like a possible rout. Arsenal gave away the four goal advantage in the last quarter of the match to hand Newcastle an unlikely
victory. The results would have been different had it not been for the referee, Phil Dowd, whose costly errors of judgement caused Arsenal a great deal of embarrassment and a loss of two valuable points.
The starting point of all the controversy was when Joey Barton was not shown a straight red card for a horrendous two footed tackle on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Andrei-Arshavin-c5771 in the first 45 minutes.
Joey Barton then made a similarly threatening tackle on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Abou-Diaby-c3453 who reacted violently by pushing the Newcastle player aside. Diaby was right in a way because he immediately got up from the tackle and told Barton flat to his face that he could have broken
his leg in this tackle.
Diaby was rightly sent off for his violent reactions but Barton should also have been sent off for the second potential career ending tackle. Twice, he had been let off the hook. Had Joey Barton seen red for the tackle, the match would have been reduced to
ten men on each side and Arsenal would not have been at a disadvantage.
On top of all this the referee awarded Newcastle a soft penalty from which Joey Barton secured Newcastle’s first goal. The player who should never have been on the pitch in the first place reduced the deficit to three goals.
Article Continued In Part five of Referees have cost http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 the English Premier League season
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