Would referee Oliver have given that penalty to Arsenal?

Look I am aware that it may seem like sour grapes to be complaining about the penalty given against Arsenal to Man City by the referee Michael Oliver today. The home side were already ahead and having the better of the game and they ended up winning by 3-1, so you can argue that the award of that penalty was not decisive, but I think it highlights the raw deal the Gunners got today and often seem to get, especially from Mr. Oliver.

Raheem Sterling cut across Nacho Monreal and there is no way the Spaniard could have got out of the way. Monreal made no mortiomn to take the City forward out but did knock into him. However, it was shoulder to shoulder and surely you need more to concede a penalty in a massive game like that.

Let me just point out to you that Arsenal have now had this particular referee in charge of 21 of our Premier League games since 2010 and we have won just four of those. Four!! Not a single away win from 11 attempts and if you want to know just how bad we do with him in the middle, our points average per match with Oliver is even worse than it was with Mike Dean.

If you think I am being biased and moaning just because Arsenal lost today, ask yourself if you think the ref would have given us the spot kick if it had been Alexis or Ozil running into Stones or Otamendi. We got six yellow cards today and City got one although the same number of fouls were committed by both sides. Is that fair?

Sam P.

53 Comments

  1. It is in some the Wenger is great DNA to be detached from reality and always look for excuses.

    We played OK but we were always going to lose. The referee had nothing to do with that. The sooner we are willing to look at ourselves and stop accepting excuses the better.

    How deluded to keep your best striker on the bench. Lace showed immediately why it was a mistake not to start him. We are just short in every department when it comes to top football. The manager gets the key decisions wrong, our players are just that bit short on mentality and killer instinct and skill and some our fans are that bit short on ambition and pride and prefer making excuses.

    Let’s face it, we played as well as could be expected and it was just not good enough.

    In fact, it could also have been 6-1 in the Bruyne had not been poor for his own standard.

    1. Well said. I love realists like you and get so irritated by those fans who suffer from Wengeritis disease; failure to see the clear truth even when it is right in front of them. Apart from picking the wrong team – Coq has lost whatever he had when first returning from Charlton on loan, and is a pale shadow of what he was – and of course Lacazette should always play, since he is our only clinical finisher, now that Sanchez is not playing as a striker, except on the very odd occasion. We did however play with guts and good attitude today but came up against the best side, by far, in the Prem. I had feared a hiding but we were well in the game until the third goal, which was, marginally, offside. However, the penalty was a clear foul by Monreal and not shoulder to shoulder at all. Monreal was beaten and barged Sterling over. So the pen was correct. It is typical of Wenger that he should ignore the fact our defence was fooled and to claim a soft penalty. Yes, it was not the worst foul in football history BUT it was a penalty. That is just being honest and facing the truth, something Wenger rarely ever does. Had we had all the luck we might have got a draw but on chances and overall balance of play the score was about right. Apart from Coquelin who was por and played out of position, and Ozil, who typically didn’t look interested against big teams, the lads gave their all and we have no reason to be ashamed. If we show that same committment against Spurs AND if Wenger picks the right team/ formation, always a big IF, then we should get three points, esp as Dele Alli and Lloris will probably be absent and Palace gave them a real fright today too.

      1. Agreed 100%. We played as well as could be expected it just wasn’t good enough to claim more. This was a nr 6 team playing well against the nr 1 team playing OK. The nr 1 team simply had too much despite not firing on all cylinders.

        I am worried about the Spurs game, Spurs might be a harder game for us since they are more balanced and leave less space defensively.

  2. We were poor as usual, the usual poor start in Wenger.
    Lucky for us City were poor to, but City never won the game and we never lost it, the ref won the game for them.
    Still we were the worst of a poor bunch today.

      1. The pen was not a pen.
        Making that an excuse is up to you….
        As for the offside, we really must start understand the offside rule: if there is doubt, advantage attacker. It was marginal and refs don’t have replay. The fact that decision did not come out way does not mean it’s wrong.

    1. What an incredibly silly and biased comment to say City were poor. They played well and so did we, within our limitations. If City were “poor” as you so blithely and stupidly claim, we can only hope they stay that “poor” all season. That way their current 8 poInt lead over the rest, after only 11 games, may stay below 20 points. Barring an injury crisis out of all likelihood, City have a real chance to go through the Prem unbeaten. I don’t say they will, I say they have a real chance. The last “poor” side to go unbeaten were our Invincibles. Not THAT is sarcasm! As for the ref winning the game for them, nonsense! They have a super squad of hungry players managed by a genius manager and my only slight gripe with Michael Oliver today is that their third goal was, very marginally only, offside. Your post, all of it, is total nonsense! Some of us fans do not indulge our “wilful blindness” by fooling ourselves as to the reasons we lost, but clearly you are not among us, sadly. I prefer the truth!

        1. Thanks Sue. The Admin should post a polll on this site to find what percentage of us fans like the truth and what percentage fear it and won’t admit it, even to themselves. So many just act like little kids do and blame everything else and everybody else but never those responsible for running our club. I call those fans cowards.

  3. Sadly fans will only comment on the result. Big teams have a certain setup against Arsenal that play on the referee’s decisions to force Arsenal into positions where 50/50’s are regarded as Arsenal being over aggressive. The stat with Michael Oliver is a good example.

    Lacazette got a yellow card for having his arm on David Silva’s shoulder. Not dragging him back! Because clearly Silva felt an arm while he was already turning and decided to fall over. Fair enough, it could be called a foul (although in 2014 at Stoke, Charlie Adams basically lifted Alexis off the ground to stop him from dribbling and it wasn’t even deemed worthy of a foul) but there was an obvious discrimination in the decisions being awarded.

    It doesn’t happen 100 percent off the time but teams usually lose the match right after beating Arsenal. If we can regroup after the international break with Mustafi, Welbeck and Ospina back in contention for first team places and our winning streak at the Emirates we’ll close the gap between top to what it was before this farce of a match ever happened.

    1. One could argue that the officials didn’t help our cause today, so that’s “unlucky”, but equally, or even more so, one could argue that we were “lucky” that City didn’t convert some of their many, many easy chances to score.

      After watching that game, I have no doubt we still would have lost, even if the officials had a great performance.

      1. Thank God for realists. There are still some of us around. I dislike intensely those silly fans who are too cowardly to face up to our own limitations and to admit them, even to themselves. You, Third ManJW, are a beacon for the truth and I only wish there were thousands more like you who love the truth. The vital first step in putting holes in the squad right , is recognising them when they exist, as they do. Not pretending they are not there (like many councils do with large potholes in the roads, equally dishonest!).

    2. How dare teams set up to beat Arsene FC!! Ok do you think Wenger berating the 4th officials help our cause. I would love it if just once Wenger would not open his mouth and say “they’re better than us but we’re going to change that” and actually do it. Wenger is fully aware of how bad the refs are, how players dive and is able to talk at length about other clubs and their finances, he’s very astute at that, shame he can’t see what the problems are in his own team and management isn’t it.

    3. The forwards’ trick nowadays is to cause a colision … throw themselves over an gain a penalty. Refs do not read it. And no he would not have given it for Arsenal. That said we were not in City’s class anyway …. but I am not sure who is ?

  4. We are shit…i dnt know why you people are still complaining. Playrs and their manager they both lack passion and desire!

    1. Yeah I agree but they are complaining because they can’t see how Wenger could be to blame. We aren’t anywhere near City and its easier blaming the ref rather than ask why players were in wrong positions or on the bench. We’ve found our level in the Europa league, and we’re not top 4 anymore but top 6, although Sanchez and Ozil were poor in my opinion where are we without them, top 8?

  5. Coqulen and xhaka are worthless totally outplayed today we are the 6th best team in the league and thats the truth

      1. hahahaha! Yes and if all teams in the PL were better we would sit bottom of the table.

        😉

      2. If Man city, Chelsea and utd didn’t exist we could have won the league in the last couple of seasons! See, even I can play that stupid “if” game people play to suit their arguments.

  6. that is not the real question.
    The real questions need to be asked of the deluded one.
    Like why was iwobi played today and not on thursday night where he would have been more involved and played a central role in the game
    Why did le fraud use only one central defender against a top side likw man city?
    Monreal is not a central defender
    City players easily sliced our defense.
    Why did he play sanchez in centre foward yet he knows how that imbalances the team
    Why was coquelin played instead of a real defender?

    We can say its a november curse but i am now beginning to realise that wenger isn’t really interested in winning.in fact he doesn’t want to. Just plays football for show and is killing arsenal fans

    1. Wenger wants to win very much but does not know how to. Without inheriting a top defence when he arrived …. he would have moved on a long time ago.

      1. You are so bang on, I do not doubt that Wenger loves Arsenal, no doubt he is committed, hungry and whatever else he says but the levels aren’t the same as what they were 5 years ago let alone 13 years ago. The majority owner and board clearly to everyone don’t get football so they look to Wenger to give them the answers but he doesn’t know them anymore, I’m sure that’s why Gazidis wanted a director of football and we all know what happened to that idea. To me its almost like Wenger needs saving from himself.

  7. If it was an Arsenal player going down I’d be screaming for a penalty as would Wenger. You can’t change refs decisions and yeah I do believe that it finished the game for us but did it help us that our £50m forward was on the bench and Le Coq was playing in an unnatural position. Those weren’t anything to do with the ref was it.

  8. The referee also suggested to Wenger that Lscca should not start as he would have given him a redb card on the first minute.
    I was told when a I was a kid that attack is the best form of defence. Well, maybe not in football.

  9. We can kiss goodbye to the champions league & St Totteringham’s day for the foreseeable future! We’re just not that good anymore ?

    1. @Sue
      We are literally 3 points behind Chelsea and 4 behind utd and Tottenham but here you guys are pedalling your negativity like its May and we are 15 points behind them! Honestly you guys are the very definition of fickle fans.. 1 win its rainbows and kittens then 1 loss and the season is doomed.

          1. Yep and I go into every game wanting Arsenal to get smashed so Wenger will go, I did the same when Terry Neill was in charge. I also think that Wenger should have called it a day in the summer and I would have been the first to stand up, applaud and put money towards building the biggest statue of the bloke for all he has done for us but I also believe that he is outdated and we’ve got to change. I’m not going to say or pretend he’s not been brilliant for us but his time is up in my opinion. Is that ok with you?

  10. iwobi and ozil are not expected to play against big teams ,why bench a 50m striker,Wenger is our problem,we still can fix it,this is just November ,twelve points is just four games we still can win the title

    1. “we can still win the title.” Now I’ve heard everything. And I fully expect to be the next Pope and win the national lottery ten times in a row. You see, I can write fantasy too, every bit as well as you do.

    2. You are a good fan, but the reality is that we will not win the league, Arsenal top 4 is even doubtful, but I am still believing that we will make top 4, I guess Man United will make a way for us. By the end of the season, Mancity, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal then Manchester United, Liverpool. Though Easy to write

  11. I understand that we made mistakes and were, maybe, poor at times in the game. Burt that can never be a good reason for the rather very diabolical ref calls.

    Truth be told, changing a game by poor ref decisions is inexcusable.

    1. I get what you’re saying I really do and maybe just maybe with a little luck we could have got a positive result but firstly my argument is why would you pay £50m for a striker and not play him and why would you play someone in defence that’s never played there before against the best team in England, secondly we have had referee
      decisions go our way many times but that’s just how it goes. Yeah it was a soft penalty, yeah it was marginally offside but that doesn’t gloss over the fact that again we have lost away from home to a top 6 side, again we have seen odd team selections and yet again Wenger has berated the 4th official who doesn’t actually have any say on the game, I’m sure he only gets out of his seat just to have a moan at them.

  12. Pathetic how Wenger and Sam P. blames the ref. Big mistake by the linesman for the offside goal but the ref could do very little with that. No reason to complain about the penalty situation(s). Wenger will probably be punished for his statements

  13. Well we’ll well guys save all d complaints n pain Arsenal is not worth it. Wenger is delusional Kroenke n board of directors r ambitious less. Is Kroenke actually a business man because right now it bits my imagination how he succeed in his line of businesses. I get tired wen some of fans our dere excuse d behavior of d management of d club. Kroenke Ambitiousless, Spineless, Mediotic behavior has rubbed off on Senile Wenger n players alike,so losing its like a hand shake to them. The only thing that can bring a change in Arsenal FC Club is hurricane Katrina nothing else except we v other options.

  14. Ooh man we have an average manager who just needs average players that he is able to toy give him world class n he has no clue on wat to do rather they warm the bench .. World clas players need a world class manager and we dont hve that .

    1. I feel really sorry for our next manager, whoever and whenever that maybe, they’ll inherit a side with no exceptional players and with an owner who’s not willing to buy them. I’ll start it now ‘insert name here’ out!

  15. Atimes I wonder how some fans here analys d game….un4tunately we lost d mach that doesn’t stop us 4rm saying d reality here…..we were robbed by the ref accepted and on the team selection we shouldn’t fool our self if laca start d game and use our usual selection we might even suffer than that…..Not saying we r d best or we r perfect but at least u should say d reality…if it happened and we fortunately win lyk that u same fan we complain

    1. Yeah we lost the game and one of the many reasons we did was because of a marginal but none the less offside decision. One of the other reasons we lost I believe was because we didn’t play our best players of those who were available and played a midfielder in defence who hasn’t played there before against the best team in England, yeah of course that doesn’t mean we would have won. But why would you not give your team the best chance of winning, if Wenger believes that the players who started the match are his best team then that’s his decision, he’s the manager. He can’t effect the referee’s decisions right or wrong so he can’t be slated for that but what he can be slated for is yet again one of his teams loosing to a top 6 side away from home with the wrong players. A bad game by the match officials doesn’t gloss over Wenger’s and the teams in adequacies in my opinion over a sustained period of time but of course why does that matter when we as fans are told by Ivan we’re punching above our weight, the club, our club has so many problems its scary but bad linesman and refs we can’t.

  16. stupid ref with stupid decision…epl need var (Video assistant referee)…their referee alone is horibble…

  17. We never had a chance. Wenger talked about attacking but started Iwobi over Lacazette!
    Coquelin, Ramsey, Eleny and Xhaka are very average compared to the central midfielders of the top 5 teams. Also, Ozil is at the moment not as good as Mata, Silva, Debruyne, Ericksen and Fabregas. Ozil has a few good games, mainly Meh games and some bad games. Ozil and Alexis’ heads may be elsewhere also ie United and City respectively. All the more reason the Lemar cockup was a huge one this summer.

    We will never get the right players until Wenger is gone and probably Kroenke too, although Kroenke allowed Wenger to spend £35 million (LMFAO) on Xhaka, £35 million on Mustafi, £54 million on Lacazette so it’s not like he has stopped Wenger from spending. Wenger just spends big on the wrong players and doesn’t get what we need. Even when he does, he doesn’t always start them ie Lacazette today

    1. MITCH

      This is exactly what i said in another post. If he Wenger knew what to buy we could have bought 3-5 quality players. Spending 35 mil on the last couple days of the transfer window to buy Mustafi
      is suicidal. No long term plan no vision. He bought Xhaka for the same amount and anyone paying
      more than 15 to buy him is crazy. Lacazzette was bought because no world class other striker was
      going to come here. We could have spent 60 and bought Cavani when Ibra was there and Cavani wanted to move but Wenger is his own worst enemy. H obviously is an intelligent person but his
      make up and behavioral thinking is flawed. He will never listen to others and this is why no director of football will be at Arsenal while he remains in charge.
      This is why some fans are hoping it gets so bad that the club has no option but to change.
      Of course no top notch players are going to come here if we are Watford.
      Unless you get someone like Diego Simeone who he can attract some talent and built the team.

  18. how do one expect to win with a makeshift defense against the best attack of the premier league? the worst of all this is that we weren’t ridiculous. We could have done much better if we had a more stable defense.

  19. if it was ozil that stone fell in d box and the ref allowed play to continue am sure asene Wenger would have angrily jumped to meet the official and is post match interview would have been , we were robed that was clearly a penalty even a blind man would have given it. it was a clear foul

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