Arsenal fans have become used to Arsene Wenger ‘not seeing’ crucial incidents on the pitch involving his players, but he quite clearly saw Matthieu Flamini’s tackle on Dan Gosling and he believes that Flamini should have got a free kick rather than a yellow card.
Wenger was asked after the game if he thought Flamini was lucky to be sent off, and he replied: “I didn’t see it like that. Honestly I felt, even at the start, it was a free-kick for us. Flamini was first on the ball. I didn’t see how high his feet were. He was first on the ball, I don’t think he even needed to tackle.
“It was maybe both; a foul from Flamini because he had high feet. I don’t know. I still feel the fact he was first on the ball, went for the ball, didn’t go for the player, it would have been harsh.”
Obviously the Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe saw it completely differently and thinks the Gunners midfielder should have got sent off straight away. “I felt it was a red card,” he said.
“I had a very good view and I felt it was two-footed. That type of tackle has been outlawed, you can’t do it.”
“For me it was a pretty simple decision,”
“It was a straight red card and it would have had a huge bearing on the game. I was surprised when the ref only produced the yellow.
“Dan could have been seriously injured on another occasion. That’s why it should have been a straight red. It didn’t look like he was in control.”
So what about Matthieu Flamini? He was asked about it after the game, and is of the opinion that both players were just going for the ball and there was nothing malicious about the tackle. And he actually says at the end that the yellow card was a good decision by the ref, but you would expect him to say that!
Here is his interview….
So what do you think? Were Arsenal lucky not to have gone down to ten men? Or is Wenger right?