Referees have cost Arsenal the English Premier League season – Part 6
Arsenal vs. Aston Villa (Arsenal lost their last home game 2-1)
Since the Carling cup defeat at the hands of Birmingham, Arsenal have had a shocking post-January period, where the fans have seen them bow out of the Champions League and the FA Cup and embark on a road of successive draws, which saw them win 2 out of 13 games
and ended their Premier League hopes as well.
As shocking as the performances of their team were for Arsenal fans, the referee’s blundering performances at times, were worse.
Not only did the referee deny Arsenal a clear penalty, he also denied the team a goal in the latter stages of the match for no obvious reason, when Chamakh headed home from close range to reduce the deficit to one goal, with almost a quarter of the match
remaining.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Richard-Dunne-c31070, the Villa captain, brought him down inside the penalty box just as he was about to take the shot. It was a stud-raised tackle and should have seen him sent off for denying
the Welsh a clear cut goal scoring opportunity. Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty with a real chance of heading into the half time interval only one goal down. Instead, the referee, who was watching some other game, allowed the game to continue and
thanks to him, Aston Villa headed into the interval with a 2-goal advantage.
Arsenal fans gasped a sigh of relief when Chamakh scored, thinking that now they could overturn the 2-goal deficit but the referee, who was having a torrid evening, adjudged Chamakh to have fouled a Villa player before heading the ball. Replays showed that
there had been no contact between the players and much to the surprise of the Villa players, the goal was chalked off.
These two refereeing blunders cost http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 not only this match, but also automatic qualification for the UEFA Champions League and a comfortable 3rd
placed finish. Now the team has to play a two-legged play-off tie to qualify for the Champions League and the insecurity surrounding the Champions League may harm Arsenal’s summer plans.
Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur (The match ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw)
No one knows what the referees have against Arsenal and why do they always keep chalking off goals, deeming the Arsenal strikers offside or to have fouled standing two feet away from the offended player. Mysterious.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380 was again on the receiving end when his goal was disallowed for offside while the replays clearly showed that he was onside and the goal was legit. Had that goal stood, Arsenal would have taken a 4-2 lead in the match and the tie would have
effectively been over.
There have been rarely any decisions going in favour of the Gunners, to the extent of the decisions that have gone against them. Arsenal deserved at least a dozen more points which were the result of poor officiating in the Premier League and the Champions
League. The season would have thus, ended on a strong note and maybe Arsenal would have won the elusive silverware.
It may look like it but no one can make excuses. The team and the manager are to be blamed for their poor showing this time around, but it cannot be helped but said that the referees played an important part in this disastrous campaign.
The views expressed in the article are of solely of the writer's and do not reflect the official editorial policy of Bettor.com
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