Refereeing

NEW Year’s Day 2022 and it’s my then-eight-year-old son’s first trip to The Arsenal.A Red Letter day in the Hamilton household and one we will always remember.Arsenal have been on the end of a number of controversial decisions in recent seasons – including the one to award Brighton a penalty for thisCredit: ReutersMikel Arteta has been left furious by some of the decisions which have gone against his sideCredit: EPAHenry is excited but I start the journey with some trepidation, as we are facing table-topping Man City.Avoiding my usual pre-match ritual of a trip to the pub, we instead take some pictures of murals – Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe – visit the club shop and enjoy some overpriced pizza and Prime.We take our seats in the front row of the North Bank upper tier, where we have an unimpeded view of the pitch – and I remind Henry how formidable City are in a bid to temper his expectations.But as the game gets underway, Arsenal are fizzing the ball around, the crowd starts to believe and we all begin to ‘trust the process’ implemented by our then-relatively-new manager, Mikel Arteta. READ MORE SPORT STORIESSaka – who we’d seen earlier adorning a wall near the ground – sweeps us into a first-half lead, Gabriel Martinelli is electric and an energetic and inventive Martin Odegaard is the choirmaster.The atmosphere is crackling, even in the posh seats, and Henry turns to me to say: “Arsenal are doing so well.”But half-time comes along, the officials intervene and City turn the tide in the second half.They are given a totally unmerited penalty, Martinelli hits the bar and every decision seems to go against us.Most read in FootballFOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALSAt one point, I think City midfielder Bernardo Silva is reffing the game, not Stuart Attwell.The crowd turns on Attwell and the North Bank upper (and lower) suggest he is not fit to referee.Arsenal fans admit ‘man crush’ over Riccardo Calafiori after slow-motion video of Gunners heartthrob giving interview “How much are they paying you?”, the bellowing Gooners inquire and I am proud to glance around to see Henry joining in.Then Gabriel Jesus – who I have still not fully forgiven – goes to the ground easily under the outstretched leg of his Brazilian namesake in City’s half.Attwell buys it and sends off the Arsenal centre-back, Gabriel, who had already been booked.Arsenal have a clear penalty shout dismissed after a lengthy VAR check. How they have given City’s but not Arsenal’s we cannot understand.Rodri scores an injury-time winner and Arsenal are robbed.We leave the ground disconsolate.Fast forward three years and a few days and Arsenal travel to Brighton in the televised 5.30pm kick off on Saturday January 4.As the team sheets are displayed on-screen, one name leaps out at me. Anthony Taylor.The same ref whose officiating had effectively allowed Virgil van Dijk to assault Kai Havertz at the Emirates earlier in the season. Taylor then ruled out what looked to many a legitimate goal that would have given Arsenal a 3-2 win against Liverpool in the dying moments.I take to a family WhatsApp group and point out that we are “in trouble” with him officiating.But despite Taylor’s management of the game effectively allowing Estupinan to foul Nwaneri then kick the ball away, stopping the free-kick being taken; permitting a Brighton player to assault Merino (with the referee admonishing the Arsenal bench for daring to rise to its feet); and then booking Nwaneri for taking ‘too long’ to take a corner, Arsenal lead.Nwaneri is taken off at the interval having been roughed up, as happens to Saka – for whom he is deputising – every game.And then it happens.The most ‘bizarre’ and incomprehensible penalty I have seen given against us in more than 40 years of watching The Gunners.Taylor spots a foul by Saliba on Pedro, who looks like he has taken lessons from Tom Daley with his reaction.Saliba has actually headed the ball and there is minimal contact when the ball has already been cleared.Nevertheless Taylor blows, VAR ‘confirms’ it in three seconds and Brighton score.In the same game, both Trossard and Gabriel are brought down in the Brighton box.Taylor responds to both incidents with the ‘coming together/acceptable contact’ hand gesture. Arteta says he “has never seen anything like it”.And in between these games?Well Arsenal have constantly broken new ground.The only team that I remember to have a player sent off (Martinelli at Wolves) for two yellows in the same passage of play – the equivalent of getting two speeding tickets 30 yards apart in the same street.The ridiculous spectacle of Newcastle being allowed to score a winner against Arsenal from a move in which the ball looked clearly out of play and there looked to have been both a foul and an offside before Anthony Gordon turned the ball home.The sight of Tomiyasu being sent off, after being booked for taking a throw-in too slowly, and brushing past a Palace player at Selhurst Park.Kane (who has thankfully left) and Son going down easily and getting penalties in almost every North London derby.A 1-1 draw with Brentford when VAR ‘forgot to draw’ the lines to check the Bees’ offside goal.A last-gasp ‘equaliser’ at Villa Park ruled out for no reason last season.Declan Rice was sent off after being booted from behind by Joel VeltmanCredit: TNT SportsWilliam Saliba was controversially sent off for a tangle with Bournemouth’s EvanilsonCredit: RexMichael Oliver deciding not to send off Kovacic for what appeared to be a blatant foul right in front of him when he was on a yellow for Man City at the Emirates.Refs’ boss Howard Webb then came out to explain that Oliver did not want to “ruin the flow of the game”.The same ref, Oliver, then sent off Trossard, on a yellow, for kicking a ball away a split-second after he had blown his whistle when Arsenal played at City this season.Trossard was breaking up an attack and may well not have heard the whistle in a packed stadium.What happened to the flow of the game? It was ruined.Ten-man Arsenal resorted to trying to defend their goal like the Alamo.And, of course, Arsenal were the first – and only – team to have a player (now two) sent off for supposedly delaying a free-kick.The Brighton kick was deep in Arsenal’s half, and Rice was walking back when the ball was kicked at him.He flicked it away about two metres before Veltman felled him with a kick that would not have been out of place in a Muay Thai gym.Any rational person watching the incident would have expected Veltman to be sent off.But, no – it was Rice.Chris Kavanagh was seen mouthing to Rice that he had “left me no choice”.Arsenal have been denied goals and seen goals go in at their expense in controversial circumstances, including this Newcastle goalCredit: GettyArsenal fans belive this ball went out of play before another Newcastle goal against the GunnersCredit: Sky SportsYet the same ref was sent to the monitor by VAR after Man City scored a controversial late winner at Wolves just weeks later.Bernardo Silva looked to all the world to be blocking the Wolves keeper as Stones scored. Kavanagh studied the monitor and awarded the goal.Weeks after the Trossard sending-off at City, Arsenal travelled to Bournemouth.The Gunners weren’t playing well but it was 0-0 as Saliba pulled back the breaking Evanilson just outside the centre circle.Evanilson did not have the ball under control, keeper Raya was advancing and right-back Ben White was covering.Ref Rob Jones was yards away with a clear view – and correctly, in my opinion, awarded a yellow.But VAR intervened and Jarred Gillett suggested it be upgraded to a red.Was it an incident the ref had not seen? Clearly not.Was it a ‘clear and obvious’ error? Clearly not.Was it open to interpretation, and a situation where the on-field decision is usually respected? Clearly yes.As pundits – including Gary Lineker – agreed at the weekend that Taylor ‘got it wrong’ at Brighton, a video was circulating online showing unpunished fouls on Arsenal players.They include the Veltman attack on Rice, an Everton player stamping on Takehiro Tomiyasu and a Wolves player strangling Kai Havertz.Arsenal player ratings: Ethan Nwaneri is perfect Bukayo Saka replacement but Gabriel Jesus goes missing against BrightonETHAN NWANERI was the brightest spark on the pitch as Arsenal lost further ground int he title race.SunSport’s Isabelle Barker has given her ratings for the Arsenal players…DAVID RAYA – 6The Spanish stopper didn’t have too much to deal with apart from Joao Pedro’s penalty which he went the wrong way for. He couldn’t have done too much about it though, it was a classy finish into the other corner.THOMAS PARTEY – 6Partey was ok to start with at right-back but the experiment still looked unconvincing in the second-half, with him struggling to handle Kaoru Mitoma when the Japanese international came on.WILLIAM SALIBA – 6The French centre-back was solid up until conceding the crucial penalty for dangerous play against Pedro in the box. If it had been a headbutt, Saliba would have been sent off, in fairness it looked as though he was going for the ball, and it was an unfortunate clash of heads.GABRIEL MAGALHAES – 5Started off solidly at the back but faded out with little answers for Brighton’s pressure towards the end.RICCARDO CALAFIORI – 7Calafiori was superb, particularly in the first half against Brighton, with the stats speaking for themselves. He won the most duels, completed the most take ons and most tackles. He also misplaced just one of his 22 passes.JORGINHO – 6The ex-Chelsea man struggled to receive the ball under pressure, nearly costing Arsenal a goal for the hosts. Generally looked too slow for the game this evening.MIKEL MERINO – 7The Spanish midfielder linked up beautifully with Rice for the opener, producing a lovely pass over the top for Nwaneri to latch onto. Merino faded out towards the end though, looking more sluggish and ponderous on the ball as the minutes went by.DECLAN RICE – 7The midfielder was the furthest forward, pressing the Brighton backline with Jesus and it worked at first.He took on the Odegaard role when Arsenal didn’t have possession. Was involved with first big chance with Jesus and then pulled the strings for Nwaneri’s opener.LEANDRO TROSSARD – 6The Brighton faithful were booing Trossard from the get go but he didn’t show up to silence them. The Belgian winger offered very little going forward.ETHAN NWANERI – 8So good from Nwaneri for the opener. He was involved in the build up with Rice and Merino then put on the afterburners to produce a charging run before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.What a good replacement Nwaneri has been for Bukayo Saka. He fits the bill with pace, body shape, and a lovely left foot.GABRIEL JESUS – 5The striker lashed a shot at Verbruggen for an early warning, but he was offside anyway, wasting the delicious through ball from Jorginho. Was virtually anonymous by the end and Arsenal won’t be able to win the league with a striker like that.SubstitutesMARTIN ODEGAARD – 6GABRIEL MARTINELLI – 6Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes is shown appearing to elbow Declan Rice in the back of the head, while Van Dijk kicking out twice at Havertz also makes the cut.Saka also appears to be kicked up in the air two yards from the ref against Crystal Palace.On the Guimaraes elbow – apparently not seen by VAR – Man Utd legend Gary Neville, who is not known for his love of Arsenal, calls it “not good” and a “deliberate elbow”.The commentator remarks that Saka was unable to carry on after being assaulted.An Arsenal fan page compiled it, you might think.No, it is on Villa Verse, with the poster referring to their Colombian striker Jhon Duran’s harsh sending-off at Newcastle.“Hate to side with Arsenal fans,” the page says.“But it’s mental that none of these were given the same punishment as Duran’s.” My thoughts entirely.Arsenal are not the only ‘wronged’ team. Wolves, particularly under the unlucky Gary O’Neil, and West Ham spring to mind, as do Spurs on Saturday against Newcastle (them again) – but it has been happening on a consistent basis for the last few years.It has cost the Gunners points – by my reckoning at least nine this season – with Liverpool and City also gaining a point each from decisions against us.Referees have always got things wrong, but with VAR to review decisions there is no excuse now – and yet it happens with alarming frequency. And with no repercussions.And which teams appear to benefit the most against Arsenal? Title rivals Man City and Liverpool and Arsenal’s next opponents, Newcastle.READ MORE SUN STORIESMy conclusions, dear reader?It might be time to spend time and energy on sports that are enjoyable and relaxing to watch – like the darts. More