Referees have cost Arsenal the English Premier League season – Part 5
Article continued from part four of the article...
When Szczesny held onto the ball, Nolan took the Arsenal goalkeeper in a choke hold for almost five seconds, before wrestling the ball from him. Arsenal saw Diaby see red for a similar reaction and when Nolan did the same thing, Phil Dowd only showed the Newcastle
player a yellow card and for some funny reason also yellow carded the Arsenal goalkeeper. This was a decision which dumbfounded everyone watching the match.
The referee had another moment of disbelief for the fans. In the 82nd minute he gifted Newcastle another penalty for apparently no reason. There was no contact on any Newcastle player and why the penalty was given was beyond everyone. It was a mistake
that was in no way justifiable.
What followed is etched into every Gunners fan’s memory. Arsenal drew the match and should take blame for their disasterous showing but the referee must be accredited for his part in the draw with some incredible blunders.
Like they say, “Only if Phil Dowd was legally allowed to score for Newcastle.”
Arsenal vs Sunderland (The match ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw)
It is highly doubtful that both the linesman and the referee had their eyes on this match. The blunders they made have only one logical explanation and that is the match they were watching was anything but Arsenal vs Sunderland. Had they been alert and focusing
on this particular match, Arsenal would have scored twice and taken all three points.
The referee on the other hand was not in the mood to let Arsenal take the win and made two absolute outrageous calls apart from stopping the play for the smallest reasons, denying http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 a host of advantages.
Arsenal had no doubt taken control of the game and they were deserving winners had it not been for the referee.
Bramble, who had a really good game shoved, Arshavin in the back right when he was about to pull the trigger through on goal. That was a clear penalty and the referee thought about it and gave a goal kick instead. Bramble had denied Arshavin a clear cut goal
scoring opportunity and according to the rules, Bramble should have been sent off and Sunderland reduced to ten men.
The linesman then made a complete blunder when he ruled the Russian offside, when he was being played a through ball and was through on goal for a second time. The replays clearly indicated that Arshavin was at least two yards on side and that was the second
time the striker was denied a goal scoring opportunity.
This match and these two decisions had a lot of importance to the Gunners since it was the last match being played before their crunch second leg against the Catalans at the Nou Camp. A win here would have given Arsenal a confidence boost and they would have
entered the match in a better frame of mind.
This game was also the first after the Carling Cup debacle, when they lost out to Birmingham in the dying minutes of the match thanks to a defensive blunder. Arsenal needed to win this match badly as this would have upped their morale and would have given the
Arsenal team tons and tons of confidence going into the crucial Champions League match.
Article Continued In part six of Referees have cost Arsenal the English Premier League season
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