There is something much less visceral about covering the refereeing errors of the weekend after Arsenal have won the match. However, that said, it does not make it any less irritating that these persistent errors continue to plague the Gunners’ season even at a stage where the Premier League title hope has been wrecked by so many.
Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Chelsea might have been a narrow victory on paper but the gap between the two sides was very noticeable and the Gunners should have widened the gap much sooner in the game. Add to that the penalty missed and red card not given and it might’ve played out even more differently than what we saw.
The referee on the day was Chris Kavanagh, a name infamous now inside the Emirates Stadium after he sent off Declan Rice against Brighton for nudging the ball away from Joel Veltman. He is yet again in focus as football.london assesses the big talking points from a feisty London derby.
Jurrien Timber penalty shout from Marc Cucurella
With the scores level, Jurrien Timber got the better of Marc Cucurella down the right-hand side and into the Chelsea box. The Spaniard goes to ground, under very little pressure from the Dutchman and appears to lead with his left arm, trying to change the ball’s direction.
Timber gets control again of the ball, unaware of the infringement by his opponent and after a pinball situation in the box, Chelsea eventually see a Declan Rice volley fly over the bar. Cucurella then turned to the assistant referee on the far side to vehemently berate the fact he was not given a foul – VAR checked the incident but gave nothing.
FL review – This is a classic example of where the referee has made a clear and obvious error. Cucurella makes a movement towards the ball, with his arm, makes contact to affect its flight but only in this case it benefitted Timber, perhaps that is why it was not given, although it certainly should have.
FL verdict – Very clearly the wrong decision. Penalty, Arsenal.
Marc Cucurella handball incident for Chelsea against Arsenal
Marc Cucurella handball incident for Chelsea against Arsenal (Image: BBC / Match of the Day)
Wesley Fofana treads on Declan Rice
This is not the first time an Arsenal player has seen an incident whereby an opposition player has grabbed one of the Gunners’ players body parts while on the floor. It happened on the opening day with Kai Havertz throttled and Gabriel Jesus' backside grabbed both by Yerson Mosquera without punishment.
In this game, as both Fofana and Rice came together in a challenge for the ball, Rice went to ground and the Frenchman was seen standing over the Arsenal midfielder before then stamping, treading, placing firmly (whichever verb you’d like to accurately describe the player’s foot coming down with some force) on Rice’s backside. Understandably, this irritated Rice and he stood up quickly to square up to Fofana.
Perhaps had he taken his arm and grabbed the affected area and rolled around on the floor like some player opt to do, it might’ve helped realise the seriousness of the offence. Instead, he didn’t, and confronted Fofana instead.
FL review – This is serious foul play and the last two words are almost too perfect to describe the action that Fofana chose on Sunday afternoon. In fact, it remains baffling how Fofana ended the day with just a single yellow card, which did not come from this incident, but instead in the second half.
Again, this was not immediately obvious for Chris Kavanagh to see and therefore where VAR should be recommending him the opportunity to see it happen again. Jhon Duran was sent off earlier in the season for Aston Villa after a similar incident perhaps with even less intention than Fofana, so the question remains, where is the consistency?
FL verdict – Red card for Wesley Fofana for serious “foul play”.
Wesley Fofana treads on Declan Rice of Arsenal for Chelsea
Wesley Fofana treads on Declan Rice of Arsenal for Chelsea (Image: BBC / Match of the Day)
The Fofana show goes on
Fofana received his yellow card in the second half after delaying the restart by throwing a ball back on the pitch to prevent an Arsenal throw-in from being taken. Not the smartest move considering his side were already a goal down and needed as much time as they could get to muster their two shots on target.
There were three other fouls committed which could have also seen him booked. The first was a late challenge on Trossard, the connection studs-up and high on the Belgian’s leg – not red card worthy considering the 50-50 nature of the challenge and both legs being in the air and not planted but certainly a booking.
Then he prevented Trossard from breaking away by pulling back his shirt, perhaps saved by the fact that Reece James was there to cover. Lastly, as Myles Lewis-Skelly ran toward the box, already booked, Fofana stuck his leg across the run just outside the box to bring him to ground.
FL review – Wesley Fofana could have got a red card and three yellows during the game but instead managed to just get the one booking. Quite the achievement.
FL verdict – How he avoided a sending-off might go down as one the season’s biggest mysteries.
Three Wesley Fofana challenges that went unpunished for Chelsea against Arsenal
Three Wesley Fofana challenges that went unpunished for Chelsea against Arsenal (Image: Premier League)