Arsenal have just faced their third horrendous referee error this season, it's unacceptable
Arsenal’s bad luck with terrible refereeing errors has not gone away.
The Gunners have been on the wrong end of some baffling calls from officials over the years, and that has cost them dearly.
This season, the Premier League champions have once again seen a few shocking decisions go against them, which is completely unacceptable.
Mikel Arteta was furious after the Sunderland game, and we’re sure he’ll be concerned after the win against Ipswich too after a really poor call.
Arsenal have been victims of three shocking refereeing decisions in five games
If you leave out the Champions League game, where the referees are appointed by UEFA, Arsenal have played five games since the start of the season.
Four of them have come in the Premier League, while the other was the Carabao Cup clash against Ipswich Town on Tuesday night. In those five fixtures, the Gunners have been on the wrong end of three terrible decisions.
The first was at Villa Park, during Arsenal’s 1-0 win against Aston Villa. Bruno Guimaraes was brought down inside the box in what looked like a blatant penalty, but the referee waved play on, and VAR agreed.
The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel have already accepted their mistake with that decision and have announced that Arsenal deserved a penalty there.
The second terrible call came against Sunderland. Ezri Konsa was adjudged to have fouled Dan Ballard inside the box, and the referee pointed to the spot. VAR didn’t intervene there either, which was a clear mistake.
Arteta was seething after the game; if Man of the Match David Raya hadn’t saved the penalty, the Gunners could’ve easily ended up dropping points in that game.
Two bad decisions in four games were bad enough, but on Tuesday night, Arsenal were victims of another poor refereeing error.
Chuba Akpom fouled Myles Lewis-Skelly before heading into the box and scoring. It was a clear foul that the referee had to spot.
After the game, Lewis-Skelly was furious with the referee and had to be held back by Mikel Merino when he went to confront the officials.
Arsenal deserve immense praise for winning all of the above games, but those decisions could’ve easily ruined those results.
This is absolutely unacceptable at this level, and if things don’t change, the Premier League will need to answer some uncomfortable questions about ProRef.