Saturday was just an awful night for Arsenal. There haven’t been many of them in recent times, but that was certainly one of them.
It was one of those games when everyone was just a bit off. There were so many sloppy errors and that’s something you just don’t really get from Arsenal any more, so it was strange to see.
Look at Leandro Trossard’s pass that led to the incident that saw William Saliba sent off and then there was Jakub Kiwior’s back pass which led to the penalty. It was just a really slack performance from Arsenal and they were punished for it.
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I thought the Saliba red was just about justified, but I can also see the argument that once the referee has made his decision on the pitch, then the VAR shouldn’t really get involved.
Was it really a clear and obvious mistake? Saliba and Evanilson were a long way from goal. Referee Rob Jones had a good view of it and he clearly felt there was enough doubt over how the incident would have played out to only give Saliba a yellow.
So you can see why some Arsenal fans feel aggrieved that the VAR decided that a review was needed. The fact that Chelsea centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo escaped a red for a very similar incident against Liverpool 24 hours later only added to their sense of injustice.
But personally I can see why Saliba was sent off and I do think the Tosin incident was slightly different because of how close Levi Colwill was and the direction the ball was traveling in.
It was clumsy from Saliba and it summed up Arsenal’s display really. He didn’t need to commit to the challenge, but he panicked a bit. Yes, Evanilson was ahead of him, but had he let the incident play out I’m sure he would have got back and dealt with the Bournemouth…
Source link : https://www.caughtoffside.com/2024/10/22/arsenal-news-arteta-sterling/
Author : Charles Watts
Publish date : 2024-10-22 15:50:00
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