FOOTBALL fans joked Arsenal were awarded a controversial penalty against Man City to make up for referees’ blunder weekend – and even Piers Morgan was mystified.
Mikel Arteta was still seething four days on from the calamitous error by bungling VAR Lee Mason that let Brentford’s offside equaliser stand when the Citizens arrived in North London.
Just before half-time, ref Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot when Eddie Nketiah was bundled into by Ederson.
Nathan Ake cleared off the line but replacement VAR David Coote – who came in for John Brooks after his own howler at Selhurst Park – saw no reason to overturn Taylor’s on-field decision.
That was despite Gary Neville declaring on Twitter: “Not a pen that!”
And Gunners-mad Morgan added: “BOOOOOOOM! 1-1. Brilliant penalty by Saka (even if I have no idea why it was given… 🤣)”
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Fans took to Twitter with a host of hilarious responses – claiming the penalty was soft but given to balance things out.
One said: “Arsenal were robbed over the weekend, so they’ve been gifted the equalizer here tonight.”
Another wrote: “There’s Arsenal’s reward paid back after that dodgy VAR from the weekend. So corrupt.”
A third added: “They felt sorry for Arsenal after the weekend. LOL this is what the refs in England are doing now.”
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It was a harsh decision, says Mark Halsey
By Mark Halsey
ARSENAL’S first-half penalty when Ederson collided with Eddie Nketiah was a harsh decision by referee Anthony Taylor.
The Manchester City goalkeeper came out and Nketiah got his shot away before the momentum of both players saw a coming together so I wouldn’t have awarded a spot-kick.
This is the sort of incident you often see in the Premier League where no foul is given.
Taylor made a subjective call by pointing to the spot – which is what refs’ chief Howard Webb wants – and because it was not a clear and obvious error then VAR did not get involved.
However, had the penalty award not been given then VAR would not have intervened.
Ederson was already on a caution but this was not a second yellow card offence. Not every foul awarded on the field of play requires a card and Taylor deemed the challenge was careless rather than reckless.
It was a good spot by Taylor when he correctly waved away a penalty appeal when Leandro Trossard went down in the box as Kyle Walker came in to challenge.
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Another quipped: “Dodgy decision at the weekend went against Arsenal so now they’re getting a soft penalty? P*** off.”
One typed: “Arsenal fans are you going to stop crying about PMGOL and refs now?”
A Manchester United fan replied: “Literally no Arsenal fan or player was even thinking of a pen in that play until the ref gave it.”
And a final user commented: “That penalty was given to Arsenal to try to make up for the incorrect offside call from the weekend.”
Bukayo Saka made no mistake from the spot, coolly rolling into the bottom corner and sending Ederson the wrong way to score the equaliser.
However, it wasn’t enough for Arsenal to secure a point with Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland netting in the second half as the champions won 3-1.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
