Monday, December 2, 2024

Report: Arsenal 1-1 Brighton (inc goals)

Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Trossard, Saka, Havertz

Subs: Setford, Kiwior, Calafiori, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly, Salah, Martinelli

Arsenal were forced to settle for a point after drawing 1-1 against Brighton at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, after a goal from Kai Havertz and second half red card for Declan Rice.

Mikel Arteta made one change to the team that beat Aston Villa last Saturday with Leandro Trossard coming in for Gabriel Martinelli, while four academy graduates (Setford, Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri and Salah-Eddine) made the bench.

Arsenal looked sharp early on and were – unsurprisingly – trying to isolate Saka against 19-year-old defender Jack Hinshelwood who endured a horrible opening ten minutes.

Saka was toying with the teenager and breezed past him twice in quick succession, before finding himself in behind after Martin Odegaard’s stunning scooped pass but miskicked his volley straight at Bart Verbruggen.

Shortly after, Saka was at the heart of things again after jinking inside Hinshelwood before his low cross bobbled back to Ben White, whose goalbound effort was blocked by the arm of Lewis Dunk – although he was judged to have been in a natural position.

Martin Odegaard also missed a presentable chance from the penalty spot – running from deep to meet Leandro Trossard’s cross – but his volley was hit tamely at Verbruggen, although the Belgian might have been offside in the build up.

But an injury to James Milner after 15 minutes (he was replaced by Yasin Ayari) halted the Gunners’ early momentum and Brighton worked their way back into the game after a tough start.

The visitors were starting to find their forward players between the lines, and Joao Pedro was causing a surprisingly open Arsenal midfield issues with his carrying and creativity around the penalty area.

Brighton weren’t able to create any clear chances but Kaoru Mitoma did fire a left-footed volley wide to shoot some nerves through the Emirates crowd.

However, just as the game started to drift, another crucial contribution from Saka made the difference for Arsenal again.

A long clearance from Jurrien Timber seemingly posed little danger, but Saka sensed some hesitancy in Lewis Dunk and bumped him off the ball before playing Havertz through – with the German finishing brilliantly over the onrushing goalkeeper. 1-0.

It was an excellent finish from Havertz who in the process of scoring, grabbed his first Premier League goal outside of the area, giving Arsenal some welcome breathing room heading into half time.

However, four minutes after the restart the game would turn on its head when Declan Rice was shown a second yellow card after a bizarre incident with Joel Veltman.

Rice was initially penalised for fouling the Dutchman, but with the ball still moving, nudged the ball away before getting whacked by Veltman who pretended to take a quick free kick.

With Rice injured on the floor and Arsenal players circling, referee Chris Kavanaugh would show a yellow card – which most people expected for Veltman – instead it was followed by a red card meaning the Gunners’ record signing was sent off for kicking the ball away.

A very interesting decision considering Joao Pedro wasn’t booked for booting the ball halfway up the pitch in the first half. Rice will now miss the North London Derby on September 15 following the first red card of his career.

Just as Arteta was preparing to introduce Riccardo Calafiori (and likely a system change), Brighton carved through the centre of Arsenal’s defence and after Yankuba Minteh saw his initial effort saved, Joao Pedro followed up to slot home with 35 minutes still to play. 1-1.

That equaliser would mean a long second half for Arsenal and already some warning signs were there, with Mitoma doing well to reach the byline twice before both crosses were eventually cleared.

However, there were two golden chances for Arsenal to take the lead, firstly through Havertz when he did brilliantly to turn Van Hecke and run through before his low effort was saved.

Havertz was involved again minutes later after drifting out wide before crossing for Saka, although he was stretching to meet his back post cross and couldn’t divert an effort past Verbruggen.

Raya was also called into action after some penalty box pinball, saving brilliantly on the stretch from Ayari although the young midfielder had more than half the goal to aim at.

From that point forward, it was backs against the wall for a tiring Arsenal team who did well to defend their lead running on fumes.

They did well to limit Brighton to further opportunities and saw the game out without defeat, although there will be huge frustration at how the game was taken out of their hands after the red card.

Overall it’s a good point having been reduced to ten men for long periods and they remain unbeaten after three games.

But fingers will be crossed over the international break to avoid further injuries and the midfield reshaping for Tottenham starts now.

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Joker

Chris Kavanagh – wanker.

Daveo

Bit silly from Rice, but naive from the ref, the ball was moving, he kicks it all of 1m (happens every foul), and Pedro boots it away early on with no impact.
Pathetic referring – just diffuse the situation. Man shity, manure, tiny tots, blue scum, puddles… None of them would ever see that red
All game too, no consistency in foul cals Brighton allowed to do whatever they like on Saka all game. Fucking cheating fucks.

GoonerJust

Kavanagh decision was scandalous, no doubt about that. But for their goal, I think Partey was guilty of ball watching, he was jogging towards goal without any meaningful effort to mark Pedro.

Steve-o

Timber too.

Adney Toams

And he does it every game! But still plays and never subbed!
I can’t see what he brings to the team other than making up the numbers 🤷

A different George

I thought so too, but watching again, he wasn’t totally ball-watching: there were two Brighton players and he had to choose one to try to stay with. I think more than anything the goal was a result of Brighton doing a good job exploiting their man advantage in midfield.

GoonerJust

The ref’s decision was contentiuos. But for their goal, I think Party was guilty of ball watching, he jog his way to the back without meaningful effort to mark JoaoPedro

Shivam

Their goal was very very avoidable. I was confident that we could hold on, but that was just basic mistakes leading to their goal.

Bleeding Gums Murphy

Gabriel was at fault for their goal.

Crash Fistfight

Why is nobody talking about Saliba on the goal? He was miles away from Gabriel, and seemed to think he should go with Ben White’s man instead of getting back into position or paying attention to the runner.

Daveo

Basically, Partey, Gabriel, Saliba (someone else mentioned Timber – didn’t see that part) were all weak on that goal, it was soft as custard. However, that whole scenario never should have happened.

Dlo

I was just about to say exactly this. I love Saliba but to throw it all on Gabriel and Partey (who admittedly could have tracked back better) seems to let Saliba off the hook

Bleeding Gums Murphy

Gabriel got there, make the fecking tackle

Crash Fistfight

You can forgive for being cautious to not tackle him in the box and potentially get sent off as well, though, can’t you? He had to come all the way across from his side to get to him. Sorry, but he should’ve been Saliba’s man if he hadn’t been day-dreaming.

Tobi6footplus

Is Kavanagh a wanker? Absolutely, but you don’t give a walker an opportunity to wank all over you. Once you’re on a yellow card, you have to tread on eggshells, that’s football 101. Why give the ref an opportunity to make a decision. It’s all on Rice for me, but shit happens we dust ourselves and move on.

Bobbert

I too love to give excuses for the powerful

Deano

You know that will continue to happen all season with teams constantly getting away with it. Kavanagh is a wanker.

Der32

The ball wasn’t even stationary when Veltman tried to kick it. Should not have counted even if Rice hadn’t touched the ball. But alas, the PGMOL will hide behind the instruction that players delaying freekicks will be booked.

portugunner

i‘m ok if this is for everybody…

Crash Fistfight

Yep, I don’t remember seeing this for anyone since the beginning of last season. Like how Tomiyasu got a yellow card for taking less time over a throw-on than a few Crystal Palace players in the same game, then no other players got one the whole season.

SG_Gooner

Either corruption or a disgrace to his federation

Bobbert

They’re not mutually exclusive so it can and is both

Der32

The federation is a disgrace to all footballing fans. Except if you’re a plastic City fan of course.

Reality check

As they say, don’t give reff a decision to make, especially a bunch of w..kers who hate Arsenal with passion. They English tax doesn’t work when you play for Arsenal, he should learn from how much they tolerate ok Saka.

BillyKrystal

How can he send a player off for something that Joao Pedro did right at start of game which was completely ignored. Reeks of agenda, once again a fraudulent referee display. How can they be allowed to hurt the league in this way it’s pathetic.

allezkev

I’m sure I heard Danny Welbeck encouraging the referee to give Declan a 2nd yellow, cheer mate. Of course when the 2nd yellow was shown Danny was there looking right at Rice and nodding in agreement with the decision.
Well he can fcuk right off in future.

ScotchEggsRule

CK 100% cunt

Johnny 4 Hats

Why does this shit happen to us? I’ve never in my life seen a player sent off for getting kicked. Pathetic refereeing decision. Utterly braindead, idiotic cuntery of the highest order.  Killed this game as a competition. Killed the north London derby.  It would’ve been so easy for him to take Declan to one side and have a chat, if he genuinely thought there was an offence. Whatever happened to the referee being just a bit more lenient for the second yellow?  And the commentators backed him up! I swear the pundits and PGMOL go hand-in-hand these days.  A fucking… Read more »

Daveo

More lenient when it fits the directive

Der32

They’re paid for their braindead comments. God forbid they recover some sense, they’ll be fired within a week.

Futsboller

The last straw for me. Cancelled my subscription, won’t bother anymore. Arsenal will always be deep in my heart, but life is too short for this farce. The PL is a joke — if it isn’t clubs skirting the rules and dominating the game through financial doping with utter impunity, then with or without VAR the officials are deciding the outcome from one game to the next, from one half to the next, without any consistency. That’s not a level playing field, and it is time I look the other way. This club is immense, the last few years have… Read more »

Jeremy

With you completely on this one. No point investing time in a one side circus.

Vonnie

We can’t just give up Futsboller, however much it hurts. We need to keep being loud and making sure referees know that shit decisions against Arsenal won’t be forgiven or forgotten. It saddens my heart when I watch things like this, but I’ll have these players backs whatever happens. We expect them to fight and we need to stand strong with them and fight too. I’m not sure how we stop the cheating that’s been going on for so long but we need to stick together and our support and our voices have to be heard. Turning away and letting… Read more »

Futsboller

I used to feel that way, but I have realized that it is pointless. The voices that govern the sport accept the inconsistency and incompetency and would rather the circus sideshow than the hard work required to ensure the integrity of the competition. I mean, the Brighton player actually makes contact with Rice after the whistle with a kick — and yet he sends Rice off? I mean, to eject a player from the game for delaying the game is not about the competition going on between the two teams, it is about the referee and his level of control.… Read more »

Daveo

I’m hanging on by a thread, and in have no justification as to why, and it makes me so angry and upset… It’s basically a drug addiction at this point.

Futsboller

I’m entering rehab …

Santi’s Phonebox

Scandalous decision. Worst referees in any top league. See you in a couple of weeks Futsboller after you have time to settle. The refs take the joy out of the game, killed the competition. Our mountain to climb is taller than any other team in the PL, it has always been this way, and our victory will be that much sweeter. Fuck the PGMOL, fuck Cavanaugh and fuck the rest of the league. We aren’t goin anywhere. We are coming for all you fuckers.

Dave Cee

I feel you 100%, fucking joke of a decision, ruined the game

Deano

You’ll hear “the letter of the law” shit on a regular basis over the next few days. Then frustratingly watch the same shit happen every week with no action taken.

Johnny 4 Hats

I don’t want to get conspiratorial. But we had 3 apologies last season. And the list of red card offences against us is so long I’ve forgotten a lot of them. Horror tackles, sexual assaults, strangling. And now this. What is going on? How can one player boot the ball 50 yards when it’s out of play and escape a booking and another nudge it 2 yards and be sent off? Do we just keep having to purse our lips and say “wow, us again. what a coincidence”??? As if competing against a fucking oil rich state with 115 charges… Read more »

Adney Toams

Well, we’re competing against bought and paid for “officials” – as per usual!
It’s been that way for as long as I can remember, and now with VAR there’s even MORE profit for these so-called Officials!

Thierry Bergkamp (non negotiable)

We all, including Rice, know the rules.
If it was the other way around, we would want a 2nd yellow.
Everyone here is seeing what they want to, just like Martinelli’s 2 yellows in a few seconds

Jeremy

Well…it was the other way round when Pedro booted the ball away. Guess what…he got nothing.

Sabotodd8787

Just like Kovacic?

Thierry Bergkamp (non negotiable)

Disregard Havertz vs Necastle, that went in our favour

Johnny 4 Hats

We used to cry out for our players to do this. City invented this. You get fouled and you just nudge the ball away to give yourself and your team a chance to regain shape. We always said “Arsenal need to learn the dark arts”. And we did. But as soon as Ben White touched a goalkeeper’s wrist the whole footballing world chastised him and a new rule was invented. And then Rice does something that will happen 100 times this weekend and gets sent off. I’m sorry. Call me a conspiracy theorist. But if Kevin De Bruyne does this,… Read more »

Der32

Spot on mate.

Thierry Bergkamp (non negotiable)

Bloody hell, you guys love to play the victim

Johnny 4 Hats

I think, from gaining the temperature on twitter, that most of the football world is scratching its head at this one.

I agree that sometimes we do have a victim mentality and we have been known to feel unduly sorry for ourselves.

But in this case I feel we are totally justified.

Thierry Bergkamp (non negotiable)

I gotta disagree with the majority of you. Fuck what kids on twitter say, especially Arsenal fans, who are known for being some of the biggest dicks online.
The ex pros are saying it’s a red, and I’ll side with them on this one, as opposed to Arsenal fans on twitter.
Forget what opposition players did. Don’t give the ref any opportunity to enforce a rule that we all know

Johnny 4 Hats

Fair enough. Happy to agree to disagree.

El Mintero

Very true. All this moaning about shit refs fcking us over again. Whine whine whine. The truth is, that no one wants to talk about apparently, is that Arsenal were pretty bad today and didn’t deserve anything more than a draw. Midfield was shit. Our defence was strangely all over the place at times. And again we didn’t have much up front. Rice has not been anywhere near his level so far and after a poor euros looks like something going on with him because right now he’s giving us nothing. The red card, whilst harsh, was totally avoidable. That’s… Read more »

arseblog

Dude, please chill a bit. Not everything is awful.

And fuck that ref. No player, not even a Sp*rs player, should be sent off for that – even if I agree about Rice not being at his best level so far this season.

Double

Ball was still moving regardless, so couldn’t have been taken quickly. Should have been reviewed and calmed down. Only dick thing here is your comment

Santi’s Phonebox

VAR doesn’t review yellows.

Who cares?

To be fair anyone who reads posts on twitter is on a hiding to nothing but the ex pros!!!!!!! seriously?? like Andy Townsend????? ex pros like Andy Townsend???????? you’d listen to him re Arsenal??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You’re mad.

Matt

I would not want a second yellow for that

Who cares?

I know there is a rule that says deliberately kicking an opponent is not allowed.

Crash Fistfight

I’m with you apart from the commentators bit. It seemed to me like neither of the TNT Sports commentators wanted it given. And Ally McCoist kept on saying that Veltman should’ve been sent off, as he knew exactly what he was doing.

Thierry Bergkamp (non negotiable)

Yeah, send him off for taking a quick free kick🙄

Santi’s Phonebox

Rice kicked the ball while it was moving, said movement originated by Veltman, if Veltman had made contact with the moving ball if would not have been a legal free kick. If the player doesn’t set the ball, it’s not a free kick. The ref is disgracio.

Jasonissimo

No, you utter d*ck, send him off for intentionally kicking Rice. Did you even watch the game?!

Who cares?

He didn’t take a quick free kick, he didn’t even attempt to. He’d have to set the ball then kick it to do that. He rolled the ball into Rice and then, clearly on purpose, kicked him. Veltman made no attempt to kick the ball, or, if he did, he’s a remarkably poor footballer as his foot did not get near the ball.

Up4GrabsNow!

We are halfway through the game nursing a 1-0 lead against a team that does not quit. Your Captain is carrying a knock, your midfield partner no longer has the legs, your new deputy from Spain got injured in training, you are already on a yellow for a clumsy foul, we have a big game coming up and what do you do? Petulantly nudge the ball away and get a second yellow. I have no sympathy for him. Mikel talks about incremental gains, 1% improvement and this is his contribution? Did he think they would score from their own corner of the pitch? He has been distinctly mediocre in the first 2.5… Read more »

Uzi

Well said… in as much as the ref could have done something different, I think Rice gave him little option there.

I will always defend rice but I think that was clumsy from his part. Yes, a different ref would have called him aside or shun the moment but I think rice messed up in that moment.

Daveo

More like it gave him the option he wanted to take.

Thierry Bergkamp (non negotiable)

You could see on the refs face that he didn’t want to do it, but he had to. It’s no different from any job where management has their hands tied because, their boss is watching

Daveo

Are you fucking serious? You’re being conned by a con artist. Do you play guess which cup the ball is along the Thames too?

Never Happen

This bollocks where refs shrug their shoulders and pretend regret as if they had no choice is utter nonsense. They do have a choice, he made one first half when he didn’t book Pedro. Didn’t want to do it my arse.

Der32

Ah it’s the same look the SS made in the 1940s, just executing orders. Had to do it.

I saw Kavanagh’s face. He’s sad he had to do it to Rice who’s a fellow affable English bloke. But he wants to do it 100% without a secone thought. He didn’t even see the full incident clearly.

He did it because the PGMOL is running out of funding. Clear as day.

Daveo

They aren’t running out of funding, they’re just running out of legally-derived funding. Kavanagh just made himself and the PMGOL a motsa today…

Greg in Seattle

This comment is disgusting.

Who cares?

Bit over the top there

Who cares?

That is truly laughable.

jonathan

Gave him little option? What are you even talking about?

portugunner

in my 70 years i never saw a red for a similar ofence! never!!

Bobbert

Hi there Mr kavanaugh

Olawale Olayemi

I understand footballers are paid astronomical amounts of money and they are professionals but before all that, they are human beings. Officiating as if rules don’t have reasons behind them is not officiating at all. If he hadn’t shown a second yellow, NOBODY in the entire world would have said that merited a second yellow. We would have all moved on

Daveo

💯

A different George

Exactly right. I think most Brighton fans were worried that their player might be sent off for what looked like an intentional kick into Rice’s thigh. If the referee had done the right thing, as many have said, and just talked to both players, that incident would have never been remembered. We would be talking about football. (Delaying a restart deserves an immediate caution when it actually prevents the other team from, for example, gaining an advantage with a quick free kick near the opponents’ goal. Otherwise, a good referee uses better judgement.)

Santi’s Phonebox

Based on his earlier non call for the same offense, the ref had no decision but to not award the yellow. He wanted to award the second yellow, which is why he did it. Refs control the game, he already established no yellows for kicking the ball away. Bullshit reffing as usual. Bias or corruption, no one really knows but it’s not a good look for the PL.

thw14

This is nonsense. I want our guys to kick away the ball on every free kick for the opposition, because you can bet they will do it and never get penalized for even far more egregious instances. The only reason we have this rule this year is because mid table teams *now* want the game to move faster, when for years we were the ones who wanted the game to flow and orcs like Bolton/Stoke would stand over the ball. They can all go jump, the solution is to never let Kavanagh referee an Arsenal game again.

Daveo

You could never guess where Kavanagh is from… Nothing to see here folks.

Guns Up

Have not confirmed it, but was just told Arsenal win 45% of their games with Kavanagh as ref and 72% otherwise. That’s a jarring statistic.

Rufusstan

He was only petty when he was dealing with Arsenal. When Pedro Neto kicked the ball away. Nothing. Saka clearly fouled. Nothing. Whatever RIce did got him sent off.

Jeremy

Please don’t be brain dead and think a little beyond what the complicit commentators are telling you. He literally nudged the ball an inch with his back to the free kick taker. Every Brighton player did the same thing when they could (Pedro booting the ball away). In no world is that a second yellow. Maybe a quiet word but that’s it. And if Declan gets a quiet word so should all of the other players who do it. Call it what it is please…cheating.

TotsOfJack

Can’t argue with that at all. These players need to start understand the scale of the task ahead. Only perfection in every single action of every single game will give us any chance at title. They better learn this lesson quickly.
On a positive note, Partey looks like he’s getting somewhere close to his old self.

Shivam

I agree to some extent, but that certainly did not seem a second yellow card offense. Let’s see how many players get sent off for slightly kicking the ball away.

Simon

Here’s the flipside to this story:

You’ve played over 300 professional matches of association football, and countless others at youth level. You’ve done this same “offence” multiple times in your career before, and seen untold others do the same, whether teammates or opponents, and no one has ever been punished for it.

Then one day some prick shows up and decides he’s going to give you the second yellow, because you nudged the ball a couple of yards.

Vonnie

That weird second yellow was a bit like the weird second yellow that Martinelli once got, never seen before or since. The rules are definitely applied differently to Arsenal and this is a reminder that the Manc cunts at PGMOL aren’t going to let us win anything easily. All we ask for is consistency, not the fucking “letter of the law”. The only pundit/commentator to talk any sense about this whole incident is Peter Crouch, I hope he hasn’t got himself blacklisted by the TV companies because he tells the truth and doesn’t tow the line. Gutted to lose these… Read more »

Daveo

And the xhaka two yellows in one play, never seen before or since…

Daveo

No wait that was marti, the xhaka one was a straight red for a “professional” foul… In the middle of the pitch. Never seen before or after…

Who cares?

“You’ve got to be pretty willing”

Who cares?

I reckon he thought he’d get away with it cos other players do.

Simon

I hope they starve the PGMOL of all its funding, so that we can start over with a new refereeing body.

Fucking cunts.

Who cares?

Yes, and the new refereeing body should all come from Islington!

Grommet

Well I think it’s safe to say none of us are thrilled with what just happened……

Cannon and ball and arsen’all

In the first half a Brighton player (either pedro or Mitoma) ran the ball out of play and kicked the ball 20 yards after the whistle blew. Arteta went mad as it was clearly kicking the ball away. No yellow card. Rice taps the ball and gets booted in the air and gets a second yellow. If we’re gonna go by the letter of the law then be consistent – absolute joke

Ealing

The ref told him, don’t worry the next one gets it

Ben Swain

This will almost certainly go down badly, but I’m most pissed off with Rice. He knows exactly what he’s doing there, and it’s utter stupidity to do it on a yellow. Why create a situation where you could get yourself in trouble if you’re already walking a tightrope?

The frustrating bit for me is yet again, the shocking level of consistency – if that’s a yellow, there should be multiple yellows for the same offence every game.

ViennaGooner

I’m pissed off with rice, he must have realised the referee would give any 50 50 decision against us. But I’m also pissed off with the referee for doing this.

Ealing

When he got up, Declan knew what he had done and that he was in the wrong,

Rufusstan

As noted, it was the total lack of consistency that made the difference. With 11 men on the pitch Brighton were never going to score

Emi Rates

New PL ref lows reached. Kavanagh gets my vote for this year’s Mike Dean Award.

Bobbert

He’s fighting with David Coote for that title, both of them are useless fucking morons, only American cops are more protected in their lethal incompetence (and often maliciousness)

nanogunner

Maybe we should start online award like best/worse ref of the month. Lets unite all fans. Im sure every team has their fair of share receving incompetence refs decisions.

Bobbert

The Michael Dean clown shoe

Up North

And he’s from Greater Manchester of course. Any threat to the Manchester teams need to be cut down asap..

Jeremy

Pure corruption at play again. Seriously what’s the fucking point? Every season PGMOL costs us 6+ points which allows the cheating mancs to creep over the line. No referee gives a second yellow for that. Pedro did the same thing and got nothing. It’s disgusting, vile and makes me not want to watch the game anymore. Arsenal showed an excellent rear guard performance and nearly snuck a win which they were guaranteed if that human zit hadn’t intervened.

Der32

Part of me stopped caring again after seeing that. We’ve seen it all before, just different versions of the same corruption. There should be a special place in hell reserved for PGMOL.

Jeremy

Same shit different season. Mikel talks about small margins. The northern cartel of cheating pricks know that if they cost arsenal a win here and a draw there once or twice a season it’s enough for them to get their bungs paid in full from the Middle East. They also know the pundits will protect them and the vast majority of non arsenal fans will simply laugh. Only some arsenal fans (the ones who are not stupid enough to blame Declan) and those with a moral compass (short supply) will kick up a fuss. It’s fucked. I don’t condone violence… Read more »

Daveo

This is it here. It’s small margins; so if over the course of the season we face 45:55 or 40:60 bias against us, that’s the title… Again. Same story the last two years. Liverpool get the same treatment. Manch115ter shity, now scum, new-CAST-le, (and manure – since every ref is from Manchester and supports them) direct the FA and PMGOL. same reason nothing will ever happen to shity and blue scum for their on going cheating.

Der32

Yup, City get decisions for them 99% of the time and I’m not even exaggerating. Only the Haaland goal ruled out was the exception, and the ref wasn’t able to do anything as he blew the whistle early. Aside from that? A City player should’ve been sent off last season vs Arsenal in our first encounter. The Doku handball vs Liverpool. The endless and shameless apologies from PGMOL to Arsenal and Liverpool. Last week City got a dodgy penalty to equalize vs Ipswich. Then the ref denied a penalty for Ipswich for a much clearer foul than the City penalty.… Read more »

El Mintero

Calm down. You sound very whiney. Truth is we weren’t good enough for the win today. Let’s focus on why and it’s not on the ref.

MarcelloValerio

Also, having looked back it seems like a soft free-kick to begin with – veltman dives, then he kicks the ball toward rice, then rice has a tiny touch – veltman knows exactly what he’s doing ..we saw the mcginn/white incident last week- the ref has to use common sense. But yes, with such small margins were screwed by losing 6 points a year cause of refs..

Steve-o

The ball is kicked into Rice first and then it falls to Rice where he uses his outside foot to nudge away. Rice had back to kicker and was walking away. Bloody hell!

John

Reminds me of Fulham last year, which ultimately was the difference between winning the league and coming second. Last weekend of August, home draw when we should have had a routine win. Poor defending on Brighton’s goal and unbelievably bad referee performance. But just not enough fight and will to win at 1-1.

Bleeding Gums Murphy

Gabriel was terrible for their goal. I predict he will lose his place to Califiora before to long. I actually think he’s been brought in to replace like raya with ramsdale

Vonnie

Partey was at fault, he’s mentally slow and they just ran straight past him. Gabi having to do the work of two men there, not for the first time.

guyincognito

What does ‘mentally slow’ mean? You think a guy at 31 has gone into dementia? Or that he was always mentally slow but managed to excel at Atletico and Arsenal (in his first two seasons at least).

Vonnie

Mentally slow means he doesn’t know what’s going on around him. He’s not sharp. By the time he realises what’s going on around him it’s too late. It’s why players just run past him as if he’s not there and why he passes to the spaces where players were just now and gives the ball away. The midfield is always a mess when he plays.

Bleeding Gums Murphy

You got bad blood between you and TP. Are you his ex

Vonnie

Wouldn’t go near him with a barge pole he’s a crap footballer and a crap person.

Bleeding Gums Murphy

You know him ?

Eric Blair

I agree about Gabriel, Calafiori looks like a replacement to me.

Bobbert

Mr bean stitched up for match fixing when

Jas

Correction: Veltman was not shown a yellow for the kick on Rice. I’m seething.

MetRevan

Apparantly you can just go around a kick people this year 🤯

I mean sending off Rice was very debatable, at least, but still can’t get my head around Veltman not being sent off there..

nanogunner

Maybe its big time import Referees as well. Lack of competition truly has raised the refs’ standard. Lol. I wish my company allows such standard. Make mistakes, never get fired. Damn I’ll be rich.

Der32

The more ‘mistakes’ you make the more sidestreaming money you’ll get from corrupt teams like City.

MarcelloValerio

The fact Pedro got away with one, shows just how the referee was determined to apply the rules at a whim and against the spirit of the game – we’ve seen players get away with assault without bookings and now this – it’s just so ridiculous – we just have to accept playing with a tilted field and never give the cunts any excuses to send us off – cause they will.

BringBackSeaman

I’m so glad you mentioned Joao Pedro kicking it in the 1st half – the standard of officiating, particularly around consistency, even the difference in different half of the same game, is shocking! And at best, his abysmal standard of officiating might be inflicted on the Championship for a couple of weeks, and worst the PGMOL will circle the wagons.

Okester

Sickened.That second yellow was a disgrace. After Pedro booted it from the half way line and nothing given. I sit behind the goal NB and thought initially their player was going to see red for booting Rice.

Snc

Absolute abysmal showing from the ref. Corruption at its finest.

Vieiraera

That was dumb Declan. Kavanah hates Arsenal. Why give him the perfect excuse to screw us? That’s 2 points dropped.

thw14

You can’t play in fear. Self-refereeing to ridiculous inconsistent standards is worse than refereeing to ridiculous inconsistent standards. There will be other instances where our guys stupidly lose their head. This is an instance of the ball basically rolling on to his foot and him taking the slightest nudge. It’s never a card, it’s certainly not a second card in any fair context.

Vieiraera

Well, the letter of the law says Declan was culpable. I get the point about inconsistency on kavanagh’s part. I totally agree he’s a prick. But that’s exactly why Declan should have been smarter.

Daveo

And the letter of the law on Pedro? And on their scandy defender, and that bloke going studs out through the ball on Odegaard? Of course rice gets a yellow for that (letter of the law and all), but it appears to only be applied at one end.

Rick_Sanchez

Declan, why?

loose_cannon

I probably don’t watch enough football from other teams to make a clear judgement on this, but do we have the worst referees in the world? I don’t even think it’s a UAE conspiracy or anything, I just genuinely wonder if we have the very worst. Too many of them want to be the star, and opposition fans egg them on socials afterwards until it happens to them. Only here can you get sent off for literally being kicked while the other player gets off scot free. Meanwhile literally groping and choke slamming opponents is totally fine. Totally unnecessary, nonsensical,… Read more »

SterdeyGooner

It’s happen far too often to cities rivals and not often enough to city for conspiracy not to be logical. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and I can show you bag fulls of extraordinary evidence. That level of incompetence does not exist I assure. If you think it’s too far fetched, Barca have been investigated for making payments to a refereeing body (whilst a certain City technical director was technically direct them) and give Italy, referee, match fixing a quick Google, it’ll be one of your more fruitful Google searches. It happens, if we don’t like it we need to… Read more »

Jeremy

I wish there was a solution to clean up the game. I’d love to tap every member of PGMOLs phones and emails and I am quite sure you’d find extraordinary evidence (against a lot of clubs). Of course If you did that and released it after several years of collecting tangible evidence you’d have to front up to be considered a legitimate source and you’d be prosecuted. Your life and your family’s life would be destroyed by rich and powerful people with a vested interest to protect their morally broken shield. Powerful lawyers would find every loophole to sweep the… Read more »

karl g

2 points could cost us the league and the Brighton defender didn’t even kick the ball at Rice.

Kosballs

This ref is a fucking cheebye

Alex

Well there’s always next year!

Pigaroulettes

Rice suspended and Merino injured. Guess we’ll see Havertz as a left 8 for the derby ? Or a double pivot maybe.

Serpent

If the international break is anything like the old Arsene days, we won’t have Saka available either. 180+ minutes against clattering opposition…

Gezzyboi

1. The ball is 3m ahead of the mark so he can’t take it quickly
2. ⁠João Pedro reefed the ball 50m away in the first half and nothing happened
3. ⁠If you put the first two aside, it’s a second yellow for Rice and very, very silly.
4. Veltman has to go for cunting him intentionally. If you think he’s playing the ball I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

Santi’s Phonebox

Spot on mate.

Seangabe

I finally agree we needed that Partey upgrade in Merino. He was loose with crucial balls in the first half and it was his dilly dally with the ball that eventually led to Rice picking up his first booking. He was also quite complicit with the Brighton goal, just casually strolling by while the attacker latched on to the loose ball. Even though his game picked up afterwards, but the damage had already been done. This was a game we had no reason dropping points from but football can be very cruel atimes.

Adney Toams

And if only Gabriel hadn’t fallen on Merino we would have had that upgrade on Partey

Original Big Dave

“The letter of the law”.
SHIT THE FUCK UP

Original Big Dave

Typo is good.

Serpent

It IS possible to have two thought s in your head at the same time. The kick from the Brighton player is worthy of a red. The slight nudge of the ball from Rice is unnecessary. The ref makes a decision that Rice gives the opportunity to do.

That said, what a horrible crap of a ref Kavanag was the rest of the game. Saka fouled – no fk. Brighton player fouled by Saka in the next minute, in the exact same way – fk.

Mootilated

I’m sorry. Why did Joao Pedro not get a yellow for kicking the ball away in the first half? But rice moving the ball 2 inches to the right awards a sending off?

BringBackSeaman

We should chant “Are you Mike Dean in Disguise” next time he refs a game for us…

Rice Rice baby

Brighton got the handball, 4 of those Partey yellow “tug”s, the rotational fouling a la Rice’s first yellow, not to mention the constant Saka manhandling waved off. With Rice red and Martin, Merino and Jurrien in doubt, the gaffer needs to not RoyKeane Cavanaugh in the press conference.
Rice misses the NLD for an unappealable 2 yellows, both of which Hurzelier would not have had a problem with if not given.

I don’t want the gaffer red carded in the conference. I’ll take the hit. Desgracia!

ObiKing

Besides the ref serving dross some of our players had an off day. Saka is too profligate. Gabriel back to his nonsense of not concentrating. There is a reason Trossard doesn’t start. Ode had an off day. Partey was at fault for Brightons goal, the man literally stopped running whereas Pedro anticipated the ball.

On to the next one.

guyincognito