Ref denies second string side three good points

Ref denies second string side three good points

We suffered at the hands of awful refereeing again today. Just as we were applying enormous pressure on Sunderland in the last fifteen minutes, the ref decided to change the course of the game.

Two very controversial decisions went against Arshavin:

1) a blatant push by Bramble inside the box which denied him a clear goal-scoring opportunity. A definite penalty and a definite sending-off.

2) His goal which was ruled out for non-existent offside.

Sunderland defended well and were fresher than us as they did not play in mid-week. But it was still a good second half display by Arsenal who really deserved to win. The ref did all he can to deny us the three points, including giving cheap free-kicks to Sunderland. He also booked Koscielny for a nothing challenge.

Expect the media to talk about mental strength and their usual rubbish. None of them will talk about the dubious decisions. The Anti-Arsenal BBC Sports makes no mention of both incidents in their report.

None of them will also talk about the fact that we were without FIVE key players, namely Vermaelen, Walcott, Fabregas, van Persie and Song.  Denilson cannot do half the job that Song does and he puts a big hole in our midfield at times.  With Fabregas and Song both expected to be back soon, we will have more spark in our midfield. Chamakh impressed when he came on and that is a timely return to form for the Moroccan.

I thought the second half (especially the last thirty minutes) was good from the second string side and if the officials had done their job correctly, we would be sitting one point behind United tonight. But it is definitely not all over yet as I am expecting United to drop at least two points tomorrow.

UPDATE: The BBC report has been changed. Initially, they mentionned that "Arshavin scruffed his chance horribly wide¨. But after texts from some Gooners (and an email from yours truly!), they now refer to the two controversial incidents. Goes to show that a bit of pressure from websites/fans can change the media negativity about our club.