Controversial decisions nearly changed the picture for Arsenal and Man City
It’s been a long weekend of football. A weekend of manic results, odd decisions and arbitrary officiating.
Sunderland v Arsenal was always going to be a cracker of a match. With the Premier League Champions dropping points at the Stadium of Light the season before, they needed an extra lightbulb moment to push for the three points. Though the three-point collectors on this occasion, the match was not shy of any controversy.
The Dan Ballard penalty call from referee John Brooks in the 54th minute was criticised heavily by Arsenal fans and the manager, Mikel Arteta, who stated that the decision was “unacceptable at this level.” Dan Ballard was seen during the incident initially pulling Ezri Konsa down, which led to Konsa falling on him and seemingly fouling.
David Raya had saved the penalty kick from Enzo Le Fee, and prevented the Gunners from going one-nil down. The Gunners later on had an extraordinary goal from Bruno Guimaraes and a penalty from Bukayo Saka to conclude the game two-nil.
All in all, the three points are what matter; however, if Arsenal had conceded the penalty and potentially lost that game, this would have created a significant rift in the title race with Manchester City (assuming they continued to go on and win against their Manchester rivals on the following day). As the saying goes, hindsight is 20-20; however, one incident in this game may have led to huge consequences that Arsenal would seemingly have to deal with.
Manchester Blues against the Red Devils at their cave. Foden had been sent off due to “violent conduct” shown against Bruno Fernandes, another incident where the impeded player had started the initial incident, similar to Ballard vs Konsa. However, Foden’s actions after that led to his sending off in the derby.
Similarly, with Arsenal, this incident could have finished with unfortunate consequences for Man City. They were playing with 10 men for 70 minutes of football in a derby. However, Man City had shown themselves to be adaptable, and Manchester United were not able to capitalise on their opponent’s vulnerabilities.
Conversely, the game-winning goal from Haaland, which was initially called offside by the linesman (overturned), has been admitted by Pro Ref as not having stood. They stated that it was an “error of judgement." It has since been reported that Arsenal are to contact Pro Ref regarding the penalty decision for further explanation.
A weekend where the title challengers have beaten the odds against them (some for them), it is worrying that gameweek four has been filled with the utmost controversy and incompetence. Despite this, Manchester City and Arsenal both survived weekends that could easily have shifted the title race, yet both remain top of the table after the first four games, joint on 12 points and separated by only a one-goal difference. With 34 games remaining, it is still too early to call who will lift the silverware. The South maintains its grip, and the North keeps its memory, as the country may have to brace for another year of North-South battle.
The PL trophy wears the red ribbon, but the blue ribbon may want to try it on again.
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