Sunderland vs Arsenal: Match Thread.

He has more energy than Arteta, but for me Arteta would still be first choice. Smarter and better on the ball.

 

Arteta every time for me. Has much more about his game.

 

I know its controversial but I think Flamini is more of what we need than Arteta. We have enough finesse and guile in our midfield. Flamini gives us steel and doesn't let us get bullied. Flamini for me.

 

Wenger has confirmed that Cazorla is out for at least a fortnight. Bollocks.

 

What is wrong with carzola ?

 

This is another match I've been unable to view after the Spurs game, after all the anticipation . Sounds like it was an excellent win, waiting for arsenal.com to put it up.

 

Ankle injury.

 

MOTD or SKy match choice?

 

Just thinking about the Sunderland disallowed goal. There was a tussle between Sagna and Altidore, but it was pretty much 5O/5O, so the ref could have blown up either way. Once the whistle had gone, that's it - play has stopped. So anything that happens after is immaterial. A free kick and a yellow was awarded, Sagna can have some justification in feeling aggrieved that he got booked and Altidore is also entitled to feel the same that he wasn't allowed to carry on and score. If it had happened the other way around I'd be pretty pissed off I'm sure, but ultimately, the foul was too close to call to be completely sure.

We got lucky, but then we had our own share of bad luck against Villa in the opening game with the pen and sending off. So I think we deserved a bit of good fortune today.

 

Lack of knowledge of the rules from the comentators here. The referee HAS to blow the whistle if he felt Altidore fouled Sagna after Sagna fouled him. Even if Sagna fouled first, he doesnt get carte blanche to do what he likes to Sagna, just because he was fouled first. At that point he pulls play back to the fist foul, no advantage. When you referee there is no 50/50 fouling. You have to place the offences in sequence. It is sometimes a bit subjective, but tehre you go.

So "Playing advantage" might not have been an option here.

Koscielney's was a very weak penalty. I dont think he was even trying to get the ball, I think he was going for the block. He was a long way away from the ball, it was unlucky, but referees don't seem to need much excuse to call penalties against us.

 

Please be joking. It was an absolute stonewall penalty, Kos got the man, not the ball, and got the man from an angle that is always going to concede a penalty. It was his error.

Oh wait, it's you, so you're absolutely serious. No wonder people think us gooners are deluded, people like you give us a bad rep.

 

How in the world was it a very weak penalty? You really are living in another dimension aren't you? Kosh made a bad tackle, took the guy down without touching the ball, penalty, end of story.

 

I think you will find Altidore was trying to free himself. Nothing like 50/50. As most fair minded on this thread have said (including you to some extent) it was a shocking descision. At the very least he should have gone and a free kick. If the ref played by the rules, play advantage, score, red card.

 

You can't give a red and the goal. The offence would be denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, which wouldn't be the case if the goal's given.

 

It was a difficult one though, as Wenger mentioned in his post match comments. If the ref had played on and he hadn't scored, then the Makems would have been up in arms about no free kick being given.

 

MOTD highlights:

[video=dailymotion;x14pwmb]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x14pwmb_sunderland-v-arsenal_sport?start=132[/video]

 

That is why he can play the advantage and go back and give the free kick. The real mistake is not giving a red card. Altidore proved it was a clear goalscoring opportunity by actually scoring so if it is a foul it is a red

 

1. He had already blown his whistle. Koscielny slowed his run back to the goal as a result. If the ref blows the whistle, it's going to affect the game like that. He could have played advantage before he blew his whistle, but there's nothing wrong with blowing for a foul. Sometimes they play the advantage, sometimes they don't. So, tough luck, but not shocking refereeing, and within the rules.

2. It's hard to tell if Sagna was the last man for the same reason. Others might have been able to cover. If Koscielny would have got the ball had the ref not blown, then Sagna wasn't the last man.

 

Maybe, but it wasn't a clear cut chance in the usual sense and certainly most wouldn't put that down as that, only in hindsight. You could take this argument to illogical conclusions though because technically a player could - and has - scored from just about every part of the pitch. If Beckham's famous lob from the half way line all those years ago didn't happen because he was fouled just before, should the player have been sent off ?

I thought we got a bit lucky with the decision to be honest, but as mentioned we were on the end of a game changing penalty decision in the opener against Villa, so maybe we deserved a bit of good luck.

 

what has being the last man got to do with anything? not even mentioned in the laws