We’ve had lots of Arsenal fans on here over the past couple of days telling us that Wayne Rooney dived, just like Eduardo, to earn United their equalising goal and way back in to the game. We have been accused of wearing red-tinted specs (something I happily admit to and challenge any passionate football fan to view a game from any perspective other than biased towards their own team!) and that is why we fail to see what a cheat Rooney really is.
I would argue the only ‘cheat’ from Saturday’s match was Eboue, who intentionally went out to try and con the ref, just days after the media storm around Eduardo’s dive and ban. But apparently, according to Arsenal fans at least, Rooney is exactly the same.
So, what better way to judge the penalty incident than to read the match reports. Given that the press have been having weekly wanks over Arsenal’s performances, surely they would be able to spot a cheating and diving Rooney if they saw one. After all, they all hung him out to dry following our 2-0 win over them in 2004.
Was it a penalty?
Official Arsenal website: YES
Arsenal had looked good value for their lead until the 59th minute when Manuel Almunia clipped Wayne Rooney in the area. Rooney raced across the area and poked the ball away from Almunia. The keeper certainly made contact with the striker as he went through. Rooney picked himself up and stroked the ball home from the spot.
The Times: YES
Wayne Rooney had won and scored the penalty that drew United level after Manuel Almunia had inexplicably raced out and caught the forward’s ankles.
The Guardian: YES
The Spaniard was suckered at the United equaliser, after 58 minutes, when he brought down Wayne Rooney. The attacker was chasing a Giggs through ball and had nudged it towards the flank just before the goalkeeper made contact with him. Rooney swept in the penalty.
The Observer: YES
Arsenal were in front and in control until Manuel Almunia left his line too enthusiastically and bundled Wayne Rooney over while trying to reach the ball. Wenger seems to like players who are “shrewd in the box”. Maybe he needs to have a word with his own goalkeeper.
The Sun: YES
In the 59th minute United somehow were level and there was no question it was a penalty, either. Rooney roared into the box on a diagonal run and was needlessly felled by Manuel Almunia. Just what the Arsenal keeper was doing charging out to that part of his area only he will know. Rooney picked himself up and coolly put it away.
The Independent: YES
Unlike the Eduardo travesty in mid-week, the Rooney penalty which snapped Arsenal’s extremely impressive hold over the reigning champions was inevitable. Manuel Almunia could only have offered himself and his team up more spectacularly if he had brought along his own altar of sacrifice. Wenger said the penalty award was “Old Traffordish”, which made you wonder quite what category in which to place the Eduardo affair.
The Mirror: YES
Arsenal were in complete control but a rush of blood to Manuel Almunia’s head, when he needlessly upended Rooney to concede a penalty, handed United a way back into the game.
The Telegraph: YES
Wenger was waspish in his verdict of the penalty decision that gave United their equaliser. “Oldtraffordish,” was the neologism he coined for it. True, when Manuel Almunia, the Arsenal goalkeeper, came flying out to challenge Wayne Rooney, the England striker started to go down before contact was made. But there was substantial contact, unlike with the Eduardo incident, so it was a penalty. Rooney converted from the spot.
Even The Daily Mail, who totally ripped United and Sir Alex Ferguson to shreds in their report: YES
Abou Diaby might have followed Rooney’s penalty – courtesy of Manuel Almunia’s needless foul on the England striker – with a quite spectacular 64th minute own goal but, had it not been for that momentary loss of concentration, he would have been man of the match.
So, if we say that Rooney didn’t dive and won the penalty fair and square, it is because we are biased. Equally, every single newspaper in the country is also biased towards United – naturally. They all saw that he dived but they all independently choose to write that he didn’t. The only people not biased in this situation are the Arsenal fans who can see the incident completely impartially and they’re not at all bitter. Just like their manager isn’t. I’m glad we’ve sorted out any confusion.
Man Utd News 24/7
Another brilliant post Scott! Of course it was a Penalty!
If even the Daily Mirror admiteed it was a penalty then it must be pretty clear cut
Love it! Pretty conclusive evidence that it was indeed a penalty. Claims to the contrary are just Eboue-houe.
Scott reading rom years
posting comments asmost aslong under different names
but ghtt has been the longest
anyway you are on fuckin fire since saturday
this post was one of your best as was the one you posted just before
as edwin says Of course it was a penalty!!!!
And a penalty was given, so what’s your point?
fantastic, the only problem is, we knew it was a penalty, everyone bar a FEW Arsenal fans and Wenger knew it was a penalty, so why do we need to even justify ourselves?
And since you seem to have time on your hands, how about another piece like this from the same sources pointing out if Fletcher’s hacking down of Arshavin in the first half was a penalty? Same answer, different call by the ref.
Mic – it’s not about justification, it’s more about you having somewhere to point your Arsenal mates when they start whining.
Look even Wenger knows it’s a penalty, he’s just being an idiot
Youve got to laugh at Mr Wenger and his stupid comments about the penalty on Saturday. Was it a penalty? YES. There have been suggestions that Rooney was already going down but whether or not he was Almunia took him out and thats a penalty.
And don’t get me on about Wengers ‘anti-football’ tactics. I think he wants tacking taken out of the game altogether. Silly man
we’ll see how many arsenal fans respond to this post
and what a post might i add
as an arsenal fan i believe that it was a penatly cuz the there was no need for the goalie to run out like that but rooney is go down very easily and was looking for the penatly just look where the ball went so it depends what u call a dive but wat shocked me has how in the hell didnt arshavin get a penatly when he was mowed down and even if u think that was a fair tackekle the ball hit his arm
Oh please! Just watch the replays – the one which captures the incident from behind Rooney. It is clear for everyone to see Rooney’s legs going out under him way before Almunia makes contact with him. I’ll however grant him that he was clever and Almunia, stupid!
The fact that it was a dive doesnt mean it wasnt a penalty.
also u cant abuse arsene for calling it old-traffordish when the most obivous penatly i have ever seen was not given and fegerson siad it wasnt a pen when the whole world knows it was
As an Arsenal fan I also agree that it was a penalty. But whatever way you look at it Rooney did dive before there was any contact. Whilst at that point the contact wasn’t absolutely guaranteed, he anticipated it and made that decision to ensure the penalty was won and to avoid any chance of injury. This is perfectly acceptable and makes sense because there was due to be contact anyway. Although it is more clear cut than Eduardo’s case because Almunia didn’t pull out in time, Eduardo did exactly the same in anticipating there was due to be contact. Clearly there was little, if no contact from Boruc. But I did not see at any point Eduardo appealling for the penalty. It is simply standard practice and common sense for a player to be avoiding having a standing leg when there is any chance of the keeper rushing into them. This is I think the point Wenger is trying to communicate that it is immediately assumed by UEFA that there was intent to deceive by Eduardo. Perhaps in hindsight there was not, and perhaps the awarding of a penalty was just an added bonus for it.
“The fact that it was a dive doesnt mean it wasnt a penalty.”
haha, the most retarded thing I’ve ever read.
thank you scott! now will you fucking gooners stop moaning now and look forward to your next game against the bitters please? its getting embarassing now…
Eduardo did the exact same thing as Rooney and a lot of strikers do. He thought there would be contact with the keeper and started to go down to make sure he got a penalty. Its a little thing called Contact Anticipation. Almunia did a horrible job of pulling out than Buric did. But had almunia pulled out..Rooney would still be on the floor. Just as the Eduardo situation.
what ????
is that actually debatable ???
just because almunia was tricked and had no intention to bring rooney down doesn’t mean it wasn’t a penalty – it was as clear as a day _
something similar to fletcher’s on arshavin – luckily arshavin scored from the follow up
first off im an arsenal fan.
the penalty shouldnt have been given because rooney was indeed on the way down before almunia made contact so the simple fact is he was looking for it and it was a dive – why would he start falling over before contact for any other reason than trying to decieve the ref and win a penalty. pulled it off far better than eduardo mind. our luck seemed to have deserted us and to be honest im absolutely gutted we got nothing from the game, i dont think too many could argue a draw would have been a fair result.
got to say though I didn’t like him starting to fall BEFORE the contact with Almunia. – not a good look even to moi as a fan.
I have to admit though I don’t know the finer nuances of the game such as the merest touch from a goalie being enough for a penalty as I naively thought Rooney would have to have some chance of actually scoring a goal. I was also aghast at the Fabio Grosso ‘penalty’ against the Socceroos when he fell over a prone Lucas Neill. Anyway he was touched and Eboue was not, and Eboue appealed as well which I also thought was an automatic red card – just goes to show how much I know haha.
Arsenal fan here. Almost all Arsenal fans think it was a penalty. They also think Rooney was on his way down before Almunia touched him.
Almost all Arsenal fans think there was another penalty too – only it wasn’t given.
What Wenger is doing is supporting his team, just as Ferguson would. And well done to both of them.
I’ve been an Arsenal fan for more years than I care to admit. But I have to say I admire your club, the fans and the Management Team. You have all had much success and deserve it, well done.
Yes, tere was contact, however I think that Rooney was already on his way down when the contact happened BUT – Almunia had no business at all running out and challenging like that when the ball was going away from goal and Rooney was being tracked anyway. He gave the ref (who is god awful on a good day) a decision to make. Awful goalkeeping for the second week running.
A draw would have been a fair result I think but congrats on the 3 points.
I’m an Arsenal fan and I agree it was a penalty. Strikers all do the same thing when the goalie comes out like that. Rooney did it well and there was contact so it was a pen. The intent of Rooney was no different to that of Eduardo vs Celtic, it’s just that he timed it better. There will be times when he gets it wrong too – lets see if when that happens UEFA put him on a charge!
I am not sure what the rules of the game are.
If aiming his falling shin at pace onto a goalkeeper’s outstretched arms (with neither the keeper nor the attacker making any contact with the ball) it was definitely a penalty. That’s what I saw.
On the other hand, just to show I’m not one sided, in the first half, I also saw one player clattering into an opponent and then handling the ball. From what I saw that one was a bit more clear cut..
Just to change the subject slightly – I like Arshavin, he’s a good player and doesn’t make too much fuss about things
Arshavins was more of a penalty
CRooney
Im not saying it wasnt a penalty it was. I also saying it was a dive.
tony starks
i dont watch arsenal the last seasons as i used to
but the last 2 seasons every time i come across arsenal im impressed with arshavin
Hi, I am an Arsenal fan and I admitted then and admit now that it was a penalty. There was plenty of contact by Almunia on Rooney after Rooney had played the ball. It was just a pity – from an Arsenal point of view – that Almunia rushed out at all as it seemd to me that Rooney was going away from goal and would not have scored. I try to be fair and have no doubt it was a penalty. However I have also looked at the incident in the first half when Fletcher tackled Arshavin and from what I can see Fletcher made no conact at all with the ball, Arshavin having nicked it to one side before the tackle came in. This was also in my opinion 100% a definite penalty.
It was a clear penalty. Anyone who says otherwise is blind. Rooney did dive though, just like Eduardo. The only difference is that Almunia made contact, Buroc? didnt.
…well what do we say about the Fletcher and Arshavin incident? Was it a fould and was it a penalty? and if it was a foul how many men would ManU have on the pitch after?
ManU won…that’s football, so we move on to the next game. Lets not just lose all objectivity coz we are fans of one or another team.
Whats that chant/name ManU fans have for Arsene?
It wasn’t a dive.It wasn’t simulation.It was a foul in the box,which,as far as I know,equals a penalty.
PS:Readbeard,don’t remember your name from before,but some cracking posts from you in the last few days!
The problem is that most people think that if there is any contact … it’s a penalty.
But then also the “eduardo incident” was a penalty – because boruc hit his ankle (as it was revealed on “Sunday Supplement”).
I think both are going down to win a penalty and both are looking for the contact with the keeper. For me both were dives!
It was a penalty and both Rooney and Eduardo dived into the goalkeepers, the only difference is that one goalkeeper didn’t pull out. There was contact in both incidents and both were guilty of simulation.
Come on fella’s…. we all know he was going down before the contact was made but it was a penalty because the keeper touched him.
Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking Rooney is a saint, he’s dived before and he’ll dive again. He could quite easily have stayed on his feet and we all know it otherwise we wouldn’t feel the need to go through all this trouble of arguing the point.
At the end of the day, we won the game but we were outplayed for the majority of the match and other than for a few decisions and saves that went our way and not there’s, we would have lost.
Nevertheless we won and we have to hope our performances improve. Our midfield against excellent teams looks mediocre alot of the time.
We’re all celebrating fletcher for fouling and tackling alot, he did nothing offensively but he still did more than the rest of the midfield.
Let’s stop bulls**ting though… Rooney dived and we got a fortuitous victoy but a victory nevertheless.
That was justice for the 05 cup final.
Listen, it was a penalty, but if you see the replays, Rooney is on his way to the ground before Almunia touched him, so if he had done the way Boruc did in midweek, (and that’s a big if) then Rooney would have done exactly the same as Eduardo (which apparently was touched by the keeper after all). I am an Arsenal fan, and I don’t disagree with the pen, but we were denied a clear cut pen in the first half (when Fletcher not only tackled Arshavin with two legs, but also handled the ball), and surely it must be understandable that Arsenal fans are disappointed with a decision like that. Now, it might not have made a difference after all, as we ended up gifting you all the points by making two silly mistakes in situations that were not at all dangerous, but as a matter of principle, it’s really annoying for any team to be denied clear cut penalties like that. We should have buried the game early in the second half when Foster made a save-of-the-season from RvPs shot, and in the end we (mostly) have ourselves to blame for the loss. Still, no-one will convince me that Mike Dean had a good game, and his handling of the Wenger-situation 30 seconds from time was nothing short of ridiculous. Anyway, to sum things up; Yes it was a penalty; Yes you won the game, but it’s not hard to see why Arsenal fans are gutted with the result and some of the refs decisions…
Cheers
As an Arsenal-fan I was shouting more at the hopeless behaviour of Almunia in that situation… WTF was he doing throwing himself all the way there? CLEAR penalty, but IF Almunia had managed to hold back a little in that situation and avoided contact with Rooney, there is no question that Rooney still would be hitting the floor screaming for a pen…
lol.
If Rooney didnt dive. Neither did Eduardo. Simple.
Both resulted in penalties did they not?
Dont see whether or not it was a penalty has anything to do with the fact that Rooney Dove.
I have to commend Shrek the Caveman though…he does a lot of diving to get you lot back into the game when it clearly isnt working out. Fair play to the boy. But last i checked that’s cheating.
wat a nice article, it was a penalty.. one united
I can’t believe this debate is raging on. Something cannot be both ‘a dive’ AND a clear penalty. A dive immediately suggests that no contact Is made and this clearly isn’t the case here.
The gooners are just trying to justify their own cheating behaviour by hiding behind the fact that every professional footballer does it. That said, and straying off topic slightly, I’d argue that Arsenal aren’t the worst cheats (a dubious honour) – and singling out Eduardo isn’t right, although a stand mus be made, and soon. UEFA should be banning Stevie Me for the rest of the season for refereeing without a proper license.
sim⋅u⋅la⋅tion [sim-yuh-ley-shuhn] Show IPA
See images of simulation
–noun
1. imitation or enactment, as of something anticipated or in testing.
2. the act or process of pretending; feigning
Did Almunia take Rooney from Under his feet like Fletcher did Arshavin? No.
The rooney situation is debatable enough for it to be conceded a penalty…however.
Seeing as we got a clear none-call for ours….The official might have done well to give a clear none-call for yours. Still live goes on.
Scott,
firstly mate lets not bring up the 2004/05 season, we all know what happened…Your right we all suport our team and players, but would probably slate any player for doing the same if not in our colours……
I think the issue and why so many Gooners are seething is the treatment and slating that eduardo got…..There is similarities with the rooney one from the weekend, but as you highlight in the press cuttings, almunia is at fault and I believe he gave the ref no choice, i did find a Man U site where more than several of your fans did conclude it was a lucky penalty and rooney did go down before Almunia touched him. So there is some unbias views out there……..
When you watch both of the incidents in replays you can argue, bias or not either way, there is contact in both incidents albeit the rooney one is more dramatic through Almunias poor decision making.
I think in both cases the refs were right to give penalties and UEFA are wrong to get involved………..
On the Eboue DIVE, that is the type of dive that i would like to see retrospectively punished, blatantly no contact, cheating pure and simple. And funnily enough McGeady of celtic exactly the same…….
I think we’d all agree it is easy to lose a match you are out played in, hands up they were better type one………… the ones where it hurts and you look for every scrap that just slightly gives a positive spin and blame someone else is when you probably were the better team and you gave it away, I am sure you remember spanking us in the 2005 cup final, but losing… it is not funny and hurts so much more…..There were some disparity in the decisions at the weekend, but then if we’d won, we wouldnt look for them, as described above…..Thats football, thats opinion……..Just my thoughts………I enjoy chatting with the enemy……
I would say good luck for the season……….But I wont……..
Those are always penalties and there’s no reason for it to be any different this time. Still if you watch the replay you can see that Rooney is jumping before any contact with Almunia. That’s not a complaint – if he hadn’t at least one of the two would be badly hurt – it’s just that people forget that when judging dives. I do think Rooney could have stayed on his feet if he had wanted to but that is sadly not the way the game is played these days.
What do you think about the Fletcher/Arshavin non-penalty?
As an Arsenal fan there is no point of arguing, it was given as a penalty, everybody that isn’t an Arsenal fan thinks its a penalty so i guess it has to be right. The thing that gets me mad is the fact that the ref didn’t give the penalty to Arsenal when Arshavin was taken down in the box, there was a chance of Arshavin continuing and scoring from that position, but Rooney on the other hand kick the ball in the stands because he was looking for the contact and when the goalie put his hands out he dove before he touched him. If he hadn’t he would have most likely touched Almunia and got the penalty anyways so that doesnt really make that much of a difference. Does that make him a diver no it doesnt, same as Eduardo both players were looking for the contact, Rooney got the contact, Eduardo didnt. And on the matter of Eboue, he is a fucking idiot and should have gotten a yellow for the dive and a red for arguing the dive. I call them like i see them and for me the penalty wasnt a penalty, not because i think it was a dive but for the fact he couldnt play on, because he kicked the ball out. Think of it this way, if Rooney kicked the ball at goal and it was saved on the line before he got contact from the goalie it would be a play on not a penalty.
Clear pen for Arshavin. Shocking decision.
I still think Almunia clatters Rooney, and I guess we’re splitting hairs over terminology. He makes the most out of the contact that was made, granted. Not any less of a pen.
I also agree with the response above: is the alternative that he keeps running and risks injury?
What debate? The rules of the game are simple. If you get fouled in the box its a penalty. It doesnt have anything to do with a goalscoring opportunity. If you’re standing on the edge of the box and a corner comes in misses everyone and you run to get it and in the process get hacked down thats a penalty. Going towards goal, away from goal etc. is irrelevant. The only bearing that stuff has is on what card, if any, the ref pulls out of his pocket. Contact in box=Penalty. Simple as.
I thought this was about Fletcher on Arshavin – was that a penalty?
Sky Sports Yes
MOTD Yes
Daily Mail Yes
Arsenal TV on line Yes
and too many to mention
No doubt it was a penalty. Of course it was.
However, Wazza did – make no mistake about it – go for the penalty. He was on his way down as he saw Alumnia would catch him.
The same happened with the Eduardo incident, albiet Boruc managed to pull of so he wouldn’t touch him.
The way Wazza went down on Saturday was a disgrace for us. It hurts me to see such our own players go down the road of Stevie Me. He could’ve tried to stay on his feet for Almunia to take him down, but he couldn’t help himself creating the penalty.
Let’s not walk down the same road as the hypocrats over at Merseyside, protecting our own but blasting Stevie Me for the exactly same behaviour. He’s doing the exact same thing.
Wazza did go for the penalty, it was a penalty — but if Alumnia had managed to stop the challenge just as Boruc did, Wayne would’ve been made a laughing stock by the entire country, never mind Europe.
As a Gooner – I agree it was a Penalty gifted by Almunia.
On the anti-Football rant, I didnt think it was a particularly dirty game, just taht 6 Arsenal players were booked (which included Van Persie for winning the ball, Sagna for complaining about a throw-in which should have gone to Arsenal, and Almunia for touching Rooney – as if the oenalty wasnt punishment enough). And please remember this interwiew with Wenger was barely seconds after he had been subjected to what is now acknowledged as humilation by the incompetent 4th official and Mike Dean.
Good Luck for the rest of the season – think you may need it
I am an Arsenal fan.
Yes it was a penalty, or more correctly stated, it would have been a penalty. Nobody is saying that it was not a penalty. What they are saying is that Rooney started to fall BEFORE there was any contact with Almunia.
Therefore what Rooney did was no different to that of Eduardo against Celtic.
The sole difference was that Boruc moved his arms, Almunia did not.
Regardless of how both looked in their outcome, the intent from both players was exactly the same.
J, mate what a load of cobblers. Arsene’s just trying to protect his players, like he confessed doing not that long ago. Your a top four side that play beautiful football at times, but thats about it… so please stop talking cobblers
You Mancs don’t get it! No one disputes that week in week out this type of incident results in a penalty. That is why all the Gooner sites blame Almunia for sliding out the way he did. The fact is though that Rooney dived. The video is clear… he makes no attempt to put the next leg forward as you would in a running (or walking motion). There was only ever going to be one outcome and that was a Rooney tumble. If Almunia had the smarts like the Celtic keeper to hold back Rooney would have looked just as bad as Eduardo. The only difference between the two incidents is where the keeper ended up. In all other aspects Rooney’s dive is identical to Eduardo’s.
As for Eboue no Arsenal fan disputes that his diving is a disgrace. A lot of space is given to fans who would like to see him go for this very reason. I hope you lot can be just as honest with your divers!!!!
No one is denying there was contact. That is an undeniable fact.
But there are some more undeniable facts:
1. Rooney’s touch sent the ball straight out of bounds, thus, it never was a scoring opportunity. Rooney was also running away from goal.
2. Rooney’s intent was to do nothing more than get any sort of touch on the ball and then go to ground, which is exactly what he did. Hence, the ball ended up in the stands. That was not in any way a playable touch, nor did Wayne intend for it to be.
3. Had Almunia gotten his hands out of the way a la Boruc, you would have seen Rooney sprawled out on the ground from no contact a la Sol Campbell in 04.
4. You’ll like this one. Almunia had a rush of blood to the head and foolishly charged towards Wayne and went to ground, giving Wayne and the referee the chance to make something out of nothing.
I understand why the incident can be seen as a penalty, I just don’t like it because it was nowhere near a scoring chance and Rooney dove. Sorry, but big, strong lads like Wayne don’t go to ground that easily.
It’s absolutely about control of the ball. Anywhere on the pitch if you lose control and then there’s some contact refs let it go all the time. Now if you take out the man like I have seen Rooney do when he’s pissed off then of course it doesn’t matter if the dribbler lost control of the ball. It’s a foul. Almunia’s contact wasn’t anything big. It’s a judgement call.
tim – a player no matter how strong he is doesn’t have to stay on his feet when getting kicked – why would he ? especailly in the box – there is no better chance to score than a penalty and it’s not his fault he tricked almunia – he got there sooner, almunia brought him down – end of ..there’s no but, there are no if’s – simple as
tim
a penalty is not topping a goal scoring opp
its a fowl inside the box
if it stops a goal scoring opp its a red card
the keeper got a yellow and gave away a fowl inside the box
lads,
Rooneys was a penalty!
Fletches Taclke on Arshavin Was a penalty!
Could Rooney have Jumped over Almunias Hands? Yes..> Did he have to? No
Its the goalkeepers & Defenders Responsibilty not to impeed the attackers!
Those incidents in the penalty area always get given as penalities because almunia clearly made contact with rooney. However, had rooney stayed on his feet would he have made it to the ball as it was a heavy poke past the keeper? Probably not I’d say. Was he already going down before there was contact? Yes he was. Did he make any attempt to jump over almunia in order to get the ball? No he didn’t Just food for thought…..
It was a penalty. No doubt about it. I would hate to say this but IMO Rooney dived.
Yes, Fletcher’s challenge on Arshavin was a penalty. Yes, it was far more clear-cut than Rooney’s. No, of course it wasn’t given. This is Old Trafford we’re talking about here!
I think it was a penalty. However, Rooney has gone to ground a few times before and I don’t like that side of his game. There’s simply no need for it, he’s to good. Also we lose the high moral ground I think a club like ours should always have if we cheat. I hated the way Ronaldo always cheated and I was very happy when we sold him. Us fans (and this web site in particular) can be very hypocritical at times, always fast to condemn opponents players and turning a blind eye to our own mistakes. But with Ronaldo gone we should start to behave in a way a like a club of our magnitude should.
Kiddo, Kiddo, I don’t know why Eusebio I say Kiddo.
city want to get brian kid on board for there youth system
city you say kiddo ghtt says fuck off
@ghtt
Exactly mate! Exactly!!
I dont know why this issue of going away from goal keeps getting brought up. If two players tussle in the box at a corner while the ball is flying harmlessly away a referee can still give a penalty cos its a foul in the box. It has nothing to do with where the ball is.
The way some people are talking here its like they would deny a penalty to a player who’d taken a Muay Thai elbow in the face within the 18 yard box if the ball was nowhere near the incident.
Penalty=Foul in the box. Simple.
Arsenal fans are stupid cunts in general.
Couple of facts. Real facts not Benitez facts:
Last 7 games at Old Trafford. Man United have won 4 penalties.
Last 3 games at Old Trafford. Man Utd 48 fouls 5 yellow cards, Arsenal 44 fouls 17 yellow cards.
That’s what Wenger was talking about when he said the penalty decision was Old Traffordish.
@Dom
Dont start that crap. Penalties are given at Old Trafford. Liverpool buried one there during the Spring and if a ref was going to chicken out of awarding any penalty at United it would be to the Scouse. Dean simply saw Fletcher get something of the ball, which nobody denies. Some allege it was his hand that touched the ball to be frank I cant be assed to watch it again so if it was then thats life. United have been denied penalties too as it happens e.g. Cup semi final last year when Welbeck had rounded the goalie. It happens to everyone.
Had the penalty been given the ball wouldnt have bounced out to begin the move that Arshavin scored his goal from anyway so it hardly influenced the outcome of the match. In fact, Arsenal might have actually missed the penalty and then what? Enough of the whining. The game’s over.
We could’ve done with Fletch in the Champions League final but that didn’t stop Fabregas from getting him sent off in the semi last year and then claiming in his post match interview that his hurt leg was a clear indication of a foul when virtually everyone saw the truth. Karma mate. Eat it!
Correction: Last 7 games between Arsenal and Man United at OT. Man United have won 4 penalties. Source Opta on Twitter for both facts.
@Tim
“1. Rooney’s touch sent the ball straight out of bounds, thus, it never was a scoring opportunity. Rooney was also running away from goal.”
Clearly you have some different interpretation of the rules to the rest of the footballing world. Nowhere does it say that a penalty is only awarded in the case of scoring opportunities. The fact that it wasn’t a scoring opportunity is precisley why Almunia wasn’t sent off.
It’s strange that you took the time to come to a Man United website and post a comment but are apparently far too busy to familiarise yourself with the rules.
Or even better. Maybe the press are afraid to offend arsene wenger yet again. That definitely makes rooney a diver. Arsenal fans are so totally not biased !
At the end of the day, the ref must make a decision based on what he sees at normal pace. Though Rooney fell onto Almunia’s arm to create a foul, the penalty was given and that’s the end of it. That is exactly what Robert Pires did in 2004 against Portsmouth and the papers still bring it up as if it happened every week.Personally though, if I was Mike Dean and I had the benefit of video replays I would have signalled a goal kick.
@Dom
What the hell are you talking about?
Fletcher’s foul on Arshavin was a penalty but Arsenal scored on the same play. If penalty was given that could have gone either way.
Do you forget decisions that favoured Arsenal at Old Trafford.
05-06 – Toure’s handball in front of the goal.
06-07 – Adebayor’s dive that earned penalty
07-08 – Adebayor’s handball goal
08-09(UCL) – Giggs was called offside when he was NOT. He scored that time mind you.
Do you want me to give decisions that favoured Arsenal at Emirates/Highbury?If you lot have decided to continue your typical referee-biased-United blah blah then there is not much we can do about it.
GHTT- what are the chickens doing running around the penalty area. Rooney fooled Almunia- he made the most of it- move on.
Every Gooner knows what Eboue is.
Why not donate some space to the penalty that wasn’t Scott???
Hilarious to see you listing the |English medias reaction to engerlands hero winning a peno. They all probably thought the ball crossed the line in 1966. And I think you’ll find they had little to say about Rooney’s dive V sol campbell a few years back too.
I’m bored. We were the better team. We lost – I’m over it. We’ll do you at the emirates (again) but we won’t resort to any sick chants. Any views on those Scott???
@Ole Gunner
Yes. We have won 4 penalties.
1st: Keown’s foul on Forlan
2nd: Rooney’s in 04-05
3rd: Gallas’ handball
4th: Almunia’s foul on Rooney
Out of all 4 only bad decision was Rooney’s penalty in 04-05. If you dont believe me I will try to find videos for rest of the penalties on youtube.
Gerry – I have addressed the Fletcher/Arshavin penalty. The fact that you scored straight away means that whilst you can be unhappy with the ref, you can’t argue it made a difference to the final result.
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/bitter-arsenal-boss-disgracefully-defends-diving-eboue-in-united-attack/
And you are totally wrong about the media reaction 2004. I wrote an e-mail to The Guardian because of their reaction to that game and in particularly to Wayne Rooney. Don’t just make shit up to support your argument because it makes you look like an idiot.
When you explain to me why your fans sing about WW2 and imitate the hissing of the gas chambers when you play Spurs, I’ll talk to you about the paedo chants.
Gerry Gooner
My only relpy to you just because you said Rooney fooled Almunia so i dont really wana have a football talk with you
anyway the english media hate united and only praise rooney when he plays for england.
and i was at the match and i heard a chant that i read before but never heard anyone say about someone who dies because of the 1958 plane crash . an arsenal fan. so dont go preaching shit to me. do i sing sick chants. no. and im not saying you do. i know stupid united fans(?) sing them but saying that no arsenal fans will sing these chants after i heard an arsenal fan singing is talkin bollox
@Gerry Gooner
Sick chants?
‘Redknapp’s mother is a whore’, ‘Rooney shags your gran’,'You should have died in the crash’(directed to Ronaldo after he scored at Emirates last season) All the chants were sung on Emirates. Talk about double standards!
Wow… this has really caused a real stir!
I thinkt, like most others, it was a penalty even though he started to bend before contact (you must be able to shield yourself without being a cheat). I cannot comment on Eduardo since I didn’t see the situation so I’ll leave that be. But I actually think that Fletcher got lucky ’cause he caught the ball with his hands (and was a bit too commited) so it was a penalty too but since Arshavin (who was playing great for a injured man) scored 20 seconds after I don’t really see the point in keeping whining about it… no way it was something that Fletch would be sent off for.
My 2 cents
I can see why Wenger is vexed. Not with what happened at OT but at the whole media storm surrounding Eduardo. This is cos I thought that a player has the right to go ground in the event that he thinks he might get fouled, and that regardless of contact if the defending player had no chance of getting the ball, then it’s still a foul.
If this is true then because Boruc had no chance of getting the ball it’s still a foul. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve heard this stated a number of times to excuse blatant dives by Stevie Me, (one of the worst in the game), but no bans for him, no criticism and no media backlash.
In any case Rooney’s was the right decision
AW took his comments to a whole new level, after reading them I got a level up.. BS commenting skill +2
Let me put it into practice:
No it wasn’t a penalty. I’m not going to say who the player was but he/she should have been given a straight RED card for hurting Almunia’s hands. It was clear that Almunia made a gesture that his hands were hurting. It looked like a bone fracture but thank goodness it wasn’t.
That was a harsh challenge from him/her and I have never seen such a cowardice act in my life therefor the justified outcome should have been a red card and a penalty award for Arsenal.
How’s that?
Lads- I agree about the gas chamber sounds, munich etc- its wrong but done a minority of fans of leeds/ liverpool/ arsenal/ etc. Those engaged in the wenger stuff on saturday were not a minority.
I’ve already posted what we feel about eboue but asking wenger to condemn his own players (eg eboue)- ferguson/ benitez et all- none of them do it so why should he.
Scott you have a better memory than me about a letter you wrote to the guardian- i’m delighted for you- but trying to tell me that Rooney/ Gerrard etc are not protected by the media and particularly referees doesn’t wash sorry.
The argument that we scored after we were denied our ‘peno’ is ridiculous- to quote someone far more articulate than me (goodplaya)
‘We were denied the most blatant of blatant penalties in the history of Association Football in the first half. Arshavin was not so much tackled as ploughed. That Fletcher touched the ball was irrelevant. That he then felt the need to scoop it up with his hand before clearing added to the outrageousness of it all.
But, you say, it didn’t matter because Arshavin scored 30 seconds later… You what? It was a separate passage of play and by that logic you may as well say had he given the penalty everything in the future would have been different.
Andrei Arshavin had one surprise 30 yard screamer where he would go for the near post rather than the far to deliver yesterday and there is absolutely nothing to say he wouldn’t have simply done it five minutes later had we got the spot-kick.’
I’m not on this site to post shite just to debate.
Gerry – so don’t come on here asking about the paedo chants when you know full well your own fans sing about much worse. Mocking the deaths of 6 billion innocent people is kindof off the chart where sickos are concerned.
Michael Carrick won a penalty against Spurs when he was bowled over but the keeper also won the ball. Everyone said the referee had won us the title by awarding that penalty.
If you had have been awarded the penalty, the ball wouldn’t have fallen to Arshavin 30 seconds later. You scored a goal, the ref should have awarded a pen, but he didn’t. Doesn’t change the scoreline though. If Arshavin had scored 10 mins after the penalty incident I’d understand your frustration, but he scored from the resulting attack.
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/tourehandball.jpg <– Toure stopped the ball going in to the net. We weren’t given a penalty and Toure wasn’t sent off. Were you Arsenal fans complaining about that? Course not. You also weren’t complaining when Fletcher was sent off against you last season and you were awarded a penalty when he won the ball.
Decisions come and go. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t. Arsenal were awarded more penalties than United were last season. FACT. So stop crying over spilt milk and point your finger at Almunia and Diaby because they won us the football game yesterday. Cheers!
Yes -clear penalty jsut like Eduardos vs Celtic.
BTW – the rest of mankind already knew the newspapers were pro Man U. Newspapers, refs, Sky Sports, UTV, BBC – you got them all in the bag. Worth about 9 points per year! Hope it makes you proud.
Mangesh,
Does that explain why you foul us and we get the yellow cards? Alan Hansen today praised you and lampooned us because you fouled us. Yet we get all the cards?
Rooney’s penalty was a dive, very similar to Park’s dive against Liverpool same venue last season. Everybody here knows it. If the incident had happened on the centre circle, and Rooney getting through would have put him through on goal, he would have stayed on his feet and he’d have gone past Almunia without contact.
Gerry Gooner
your talking bollox
that chant that i heard was worse than any chant about your manager
which i heard in the pub before
but let me just say calling a man a name
and singing about the loss of lives that effect people daily family members friends people who were there and seen unspeakable things that torn lives apart is the same as name calling. get fucked
and saying stupid things like that is how stupid people think that you debate
but its not because there is no point or smart behind it
To those picking up on my point about Rooney kicking the ball out of bounds and running away from goal, I bring that up because all of your lot keeps going on about how you deserved to win because you scored 2 and we scored 1.
What I’m saying is that you didn’t really have anything to do with either goal. The first ball goes harmlessly out of bounds if Almunia doesn’t charge and the second one is easily cleared if Diaby leaves it alone.
There was nothing quality-wise in your performance that deserved a result. It was a total fluke.
And for those of you going on about the correct interpretation of the rules as per above, if you’re admitting that Rooney was purely looking for a penalty and going down prior to contact, which most of you are now admitting, then wouldn’t the correct interpretation of the rule be to book Rooney for simulation?
Just saying.
I’m in total agreement with you that Almunia was the one who allowed the situation to present itself, but I’m also saying you sound more than a bit foolish when you say things like, and I paraphrase, “sure he could’ve stayed on his feet, but why should he?” Because it’s cheating to fall down if you’re not sent down, that’s why.
Isn’t that what one of the main articles on this very website is about? Bashing Eboue for simulation? But yet here most of you are, admitting that Rooney simulated, but it’s somehow justifiable because there was a pair of gloves for him to use a prop.
Gerry Gooner and gotta hate – Yes James that does not surprise me. I was at the game and when the farce ensued in the 95th minute I could clearly see an Arsenal fan in white and a few others with his arms outstretched doing plane impressions. Get off the moral high ground.
Both were clear cut penalties i am admitting it and i am a manchester fan. However if arsenal had gotten the penalty and scored then arshavin would not have scored 1 minute later.Gunners fans have to admit it makes sense. I believe that their main argument is that its a matter of ethics and i believe the referee was poor. He gave too many cards for both sides and did not allow the game to flow properly. There were several instances where an advantage could have been played. I also disapprove of Arsene Wenger’s dismissal. What was the purpose of that? Btw gallas was offside there but just. A draw might have been fair……..maybe you have Diaby to blame for that i have no idea where he was trying to head that ball out.
Good site – plenty of opinions from many fans, many of whom need their heads examined.
When a keeper rushes out the way Almunia did, then you are asking for trouble. However, just look at the replays when it appears that Rooney has hit a tree trunk in order to go over. Almunia’s arms are on the floor, yet Rooney starts to dive BEFORE he touches them. And to think that Eduardo got stick for midweek!
Although disappointed at losing, I find solace in many things:
1. Both United goals came from our mistakes.
2. We still created chances before and after the goals were scored, whereas your best chances were from the break.
3. We can play that same formation and personnel against Barcelona and not be humiliated like your lot were in Rome.
4. We can live without Fabregas at Old Trafford. You cannot say the same about life without Ronaldo.
5. When a player of limited ability like Fletcher resorts to fouling Alex Song, it shows how Fergie must have soiled himself after watching our performances thus far.
6. We dont have to spend £30m+ on a Spurs reject like Berbatov and then see his “supreme technical ability” put a chance like he had into the stands!
Enjoy your victory – I know for sure that one result is not going to end our season in August, yet from the evidence of United’s performance I would be worried about your ability to live with the rest of the big four plus the other emerging teams. They wont make the mistakes that we did. We may not win the title or the UCL, but I severely doubt if United will.
Also, to United4eva, Fletcher did get the ball off of Fabregas, but his spindly legs then wrapped around Fabregas as he fell over, which denied Fab4 the chance to shoot as he was nearest the ball as it fell within his vicinity. That was why the red card was awarded, and exactly why UEFA upheld it. If you can win one match against us without any United diving or mistakes from our players, then please send me your address so I can send you a congratulatory card. Until then, I rest my case.
asdas – Are you for real? The fucking “Ingerlish” media hate UNited. That is a well known fact.
East End Gooner – Do you mean like you were humiliated in the semi final? Barca fan are you now. Fletch is limited – How you would love a dm like him at the Arse. Finally getting the plaudits he deserves. Finally do you honestly think United will be that poor all season. Just wait till, say, October when the team has gelled properly then you will see the real United. As for Berbatov the man has been class this season. The ball took an horrendous bobble. Comes to summat when you have to refer to your number 1 rivals to dig at United.
King Eric – We are both very different teams from that Semi final. You lost the best player in the world who could change the game with a flick of his big toe and replaced him with Valencia.
East End-
1. I wouldn’t find solace in my team throwing away a result. If Foster gave away a penalty and Fletcher scored an own goal under NO pressure, it certainly wouldn’t be cheering ME up.
2. The only decent save Foster had to make after your goal was from RvP.
3. At least we were in Rome mate!
4. You think playing against a DREADFUL performing United team and losing is a good thing? Are you not worried that you couldn’t finish us off when we were there for the taking? I’ll be surprised if United play that badly again all season and I’d argue if Fabregas HAD been playing you would have won – he is THAT important. Did you know that since he started playing for you, you’ve never beaten us without him in your team? Ronaldo wasn’t playing and we did win.
5. You missed Song cut down Fletcher and Valencia within a period of 3 minutes yesterday then?
6. The ball bobbled massively. Clear to see in the replay. You’re right though, you don’t need Berbatov, you winning plenty of trophies without him… oh no wait, you’ve won fuck all for four years and are behind both Chelsea and Spurs in recent success. The third most successful club in London, well done! Who needs Berbatov when you’re doing so well without him!
I have still yet to see one Manc explain why Rooney started to go to the ground prior to contact, which the pictures have proven. Is that not diving with intent to deceive the ref?
Scott,
Your point about Arshavin scoring right after the denied penalty is a valid one to an extent, but you forget about the fact that he should have also been carded, which would have not allowed for him to run around giving those little kicks for the rest of the match as he already would have been on yellow.
Big difference, seeing as how his “man of the match” performance was based solely on those little kicks, which he would have had to stop doing for fear of being sent off for another yellow.
After all, it’s not as if he contributed positively to the match in any other way. You didn’t even come close to scoring from open play until we threw our whole team forward, so it’s not like he was creating chances for you. He was playing like an Allardyce-era Bolton player; plain and simple. The only problem is that you’re not Bolton, you’re Manchester United, and you were playing on your own patch.
I’ll say it again, these things happen. I’m not discouraged. I saw Arsenal comprehensively outplay you in every which way on your own patch. You’re all putting on a strong face right now because newsnow brought in all the Arsenal fans, but you’re well aware of the problems with your team. If you came into London and outplayed us like that and we won, I’d look at the big picture and say you’re the better team. I’m comfortable that we are presently a better team than you. You won the match but we made our mark. There’s a lot of football to be played but I would say that the table will end up proving the better team to be Arsenal.
They were both penalties. Rooney’s just looked clear cut in real time where as the Flecther tackle (aka Handball / foul) looked like a good challange at first.
Replays show that it SHOULD have been given.
“We can play that same formation and personnel against Barcelona and not be humiliated like your lot were in Rome.”
do you consider youself a smart and adult person ?
It’s almost september 2009. check your watch.
Scott, the save on RvP from that distance wasn’t decent, it was robbery. And that’s a compliment to your keeper. Amazing stop. If he doesn’t stop that, the floodgates open and you lose by 4. We were running wild at that point.
And that tip over the bar from RvP’s free kick wasn’t too bad either.
First let me get this out of the way, I am an Arsenal fan. I think it was a penalty but it was also a dive by Rooney. In my opinion Rooney was smart and Almunia was plain stupid. If Almunia had pulled out of the challenge, Rooney would have still gone down but that is besides the point. As long as Almunia made contact, there is really no point complaining about the penalty.
i’m a gooner and was at the game saturday.
first things first. eboue is a disgrace and most of us lot are appalled by his persistent diving and playacting. i’d sell him tomorrow. so you’re spot on with that one. two, it was a pen. rooney knew what he was doing but was clever enough to induce the foul and almunia was dumb enough to clatter him. thirdly, diaby showed what an erratic and unpredictable dumbclart he is. game over.
all that said i am happy. my honest feeling is we have a better side than you guys. utd looked *very* ordinary, which i’m sure many of you would acknowledge. i’m sure you would hope and expect for improvements but i’m looking at your personel and i’m prepared to wager fergie will have to get busy in january. there is a massive creativity hole in your squad. as things stand i wouldnt rule us our of finishing ahead of united this season.
anyhow just my observations. best of luck in the new season lads, and we’ll hope we can turn over your neighbours when we return to manchester next week.
oh, and the wenger chant does no credit at all to a great club like united. none at all.
well said tim! thumbs up!
everyone is forgetting the potential booking of fletcher!
Its good to have banter with Arsenal fans but not half as much fun as the dippers!
Can anyone tell me how many times Fletcher has been sent off in the game apart from UCL Semi Final?
@ KE ‘I could clearly see an Arsenal fan in white and a few others with his arms outstretched doing plane impressions. Get off the moral high ground.’
I rest my case. You saw AN arsenal and a FEW others fan you say- I heard about 40,000 mancs chanting.
Scott- Arshavin scored from a different passage of play- just for the record was it a peno?
If yes, as someone above pointed out carrick should have been given a yellow which would have pretty much ended his effectiveness.
By the way i’m here to criticise fletcher- i rate him and did exactly to us what neville did- we could do with someone in his mould though he wouldn’t be on the pitch for long if he were playing for us.
Fletcher was sent off last year and it upheld cos he took the man. FACT.
Feeling sorry for him missing the final is no reason for a correct decision to be overturned
@ East End
How does Spurs demanding a British record transfer fee, plus a young United striker on loan for a player who had essentially refused to play for them make Berbatov a “reject”? Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but Spurs reject Berbatov won more medals last year than you entire squad has won in the past four years.
It is early days, but so far Arsenal seem to be doing their usual “let’s thrash all the shit teams and then fuck it all up in the important matches” act so I wouldn’t go looking for the key to the trophy cabinet just yet. You do look like a good bet for fourth though so at least you’ll get a chance to cheat your way through Champions League qualifying again.
You’re right, you’re season is not over in August: it usually takes a good five or six months of delusion before you lot give up the ghost for another year.
Personally, I’d be concerned if, five games into the season, my teams leading scorer was a central defender who had scored two of his three goals by accident.
It’s interesting that you don’t think United will win the league this year but considering you probably go into every season thinking that Arsenal will win it your opinion on the title race doesn’t really carry to much weight.
@ East End and Gerry
Re: Fletcher’s sending off last year
Even the secretary of UEFA admitted that the referee made a mistake. The reason the decision was upheld is because Uefa only allow appeals in the case of mistaken identity.
Also, I wonder if any of the Gooners on here would consider half of their team deliberately trying to injure Patrice Evra at OT last season to the point that the referee had to pull him aside and warn him to be careful to be “anti-football”.
It was a penalty, yes, BUT:
If Almunia would have done “a Boruc” in the last second and hold his arms back, Rooney would have found himself in the same situation as Eduardo did!
Every time the attacker believes the goalie will be late and make contact they lift their feets from the ground prematurly!
Almunia didn’t and therefore I can’t complain about the decision!
Redbeard, do you really believe the referee said that to Evra last year without making anything about it??? Sounds strange to me anyway, somebody ought ta have been sent off if it was to be true…..
No wonder the Emirates Stadium is never full. They’re all far too busy writing total bollock on other teams’ websites!
I don’t see why the Goons are still weeping over the Fletcher tackle. Personally, I thought it was a penalty and I suspect Fletch felt so too, looking at his hasty clearance. That said, Arshavin scored off the same attack, so you really don’t have much to complain about. You deserved a penalty, but got a goal anyway. So stop whining.
@ redbeard
“let’s thrash all the shit teams and then fuck it all up in the important matches”
Sure you aren’t talking about yourselves there?
See the Big 4 table for the last few years. It’s us who beats the good teams and loses to the sh*t ones and you who picks up all of your points from the sh*t teams.
Guys
Don’t miss the point
1. Man U were outclassed on the balance of the match
2. Arsenal commited two stupid mistakes, gifting lead that was totally undeserved
3. Fletcher committed a clear penalty
4. A fair result overall would have been 2-2
Why debate irrellavant things like the Rooney (legitimate) dive. That sort of dive is within the rules of the game and within the experience of all good players. Eduardo’s was not, but hey that’s football.
@ tim
I am fully aware of our poor record against the rest of the big four but yours in hardly stellar. If you read the quote, I didn’t say good teams I said important matches.
This was your first big test of the season and what happened? You fucked up! I am well aware of the fact that you took four points off us last season but considering you finished 18 points behind us in the league the importance of those games is questionable.
Importance is not necessarily who you play but the circumstances you play under. When there was really something to play for in the Champions League semi what happened, you got ripped to shreds home and away.
The word is out on Arsenal: gutless bottlers who fold like a deck of cards when the going gets tough. That’s why you haven’t won anything in four years and seeing as there is no evidence that has changed I wouldn’t get my hopes up this year if I were you.
@redbeard
important games like burnley?
If United were as poor as the Arsenal fans suggest, how cone they had no more chances on goal after Foster’s save?
Not a great performance, granted, but we’ll be up there competing come the end of the season. I’m more worried about our finances, but that’s another story.
Equally, should Arsenal be worried – if they can’t put away a team playing ‘so poorly’, why so confident of a result against the so-called “lower” teams?
@ itsme
You lot just don’t get it, do you?
No, Burnley was not a particularly important game. United are notoriously slow starters and often get a few poor results early on but, come the business end of the season, we usually produce because there is something on the line. Last year we were nowhere at Cristmas, you were nowhere at Easter. I know which position I would rather be in.
I am a huge United fan, but just because it wasn’t a penalty doesn’t mean Rooney was in the right. He was going down with or without contact and that makes me feel a bit worse about what happened. It was definitely a pen, but even if Almunia had pulled back Wayne was going down :\
Arsenal fan here… obviously
The issue here isn’t wether it was a penatly or not because it clearly was, Almunia made contact so penalty given – end of.
Rooney did dive though and if Almunia wasn’t a clown and moved out of the way much like Boruc did with Eduardo then Rooney would still have been on the deck.
Take a look at the replays, the best one being from behind the goal face on to Rooney. It clearly shows Rooney touch the ball well out of play and then his legs mysteriously go from under him a second or so before Almunia makes the contact, he knew he had no chance to get the ball and was playing for the pen, lucky for him Almunia was an idiot.
Like I said though it was a penalty because of the contact but he did do exactly the same as what Eduardo is being castigated in the press / Uefa for – anticipating contact so going to ground.
7 games 4 penalties that is an absurd statistic and basically the only way United can beat Arsenal,united are almost always playing with a twelfth man at home,scumbags.And your miserable manager always complains that your side cant buy a penalty what a load off rubbish,Mike Riley used to give you one every weekend, no fucking wonder you all have some many trophies.
@Danish:
I agree with you Danish, now how do you feel we stole those 3 points from you in exchange of 0?
The 12th man I’m assuming is Eboue?
@goonerdeano:
So what do you expect him to do? Jump over him and chase the ball?
“And since you seem to have time on your hands, how about another piece like this from the same sources pointing out if Fletcher’s hacking down of Arshavin in the first half was a penalty? Same answer, different call by the ref.”
OK, most UTD fans say that Fletcher committed a foul on Arshavin, but justice prevailed when Aershavin scored 24 SECs later. So had a penalty been given, then Arshavin would not have scored after being clattered by Fletcher.
Arsenal would have had only one goal – either the Arshavin goal, or a successful PK. So the refs failure to penalize Fletcher DID NOT cost Arsenal a goal, and it would NOT have affected the outcome of the game.
Again, it’s different, because in the scenario where Fletcher is called for the foul he also receives a yellow card, which would have negated his foul play from that point on.
But in the end, you’re right, that moment didn’t decide the match.
But I don’t get the “Arsenal bottled it” comments that are coming from some of yours.
We didn’t bottle it at all. Apart from two glaring errors on the parts of two individuals, we actually played very well for the full 90 minutes, which is something you surely can’t say. You only created chances when we threw our entire team forward.
And to say we didn’t create any chances after Foster’s save like one of the OPs said is laughable. Immediately before Diaby’s f*ck up, Foster was just able to redirect RvP’s goal-bound free kick onto the bar. Immediately after heading into his own net, Diaby walked through three of your players before firing wide from point blank range. RvP then put the ball in your net at the death. Sure, Gallas was offsides but it was damn close to being a goal. Surely you would consider that a chance.
Aside from Berbatov’s fluff, what did you create? And I’m not talking about the second half, I’m talking about the entire match.
Sure, you won the match, but you did nothing yourselves to earn it. If you’re going to say that we bottled it then surely you did the same thing, playing from a defensive shell and creating nothing on your home patch.
As I’ve said, the result, while bothersome and disappointing, is really no big deal. The table will show who the better team is in due time.
Just think about how badly our midfield outplayed yours. Then consider our best, most creative and most influential player wasn’t even on the pitch.
As I said before, a lot of you are presently putting on a brave face because newsnow brought in all of the Arsenal supporters, but you know what you saw.
why wasn’t almunia sent off????????????????????????????????????????
thats the only question around this issue?
quality post,
definit penalty and if ye bitter arsenal fans dont agree then just consider it rough justice for what happened to chelsea midweek
i meant celtic haha
@ the Rad Legion,
I expect him to take an honest touch on the ball and not go to ground for the sake of it.
Isn’t that what you expected out of Eduardo?
We can admit that Eboue is a diving cheat, why can’t you admit the same about Rooney?
Not like he has a track record or anything; not like a youtube search of “Rooney dive” will bring up numerous resluts or anything.
After re-watching it on youtube in slomo, it’s even more pronounced than I thought.
Watch closely:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0UdpLNiD-o
1:35: Rooney gets his “touch” on the ball.
1:42: Rooney is clearly dragging his left toe.
1:44: Almunia GETS A TOUCH ON THE BALL! Watch the ball’s rotation change from 1:44 – 1:50. I didn’t see that before, but there goes the, “well it was a dive but it was still a penalty” argument. Absolutely no way you can dispute that he touched the ball from this evidence.
2:11: Almunia’s forearm and Rooney’s right leg finally make contact. Note Wayne’s left knee already half to ground and the mark on the pitch from his left toe dragging. Anyone care to tell me why his left toe is dragging when his left foot hasn’t been touched?
He could have chosen to take a proper touch and step over the keeper and put the ball in the net the proper way but he instead chose to drag his left foot to ensure a chance on goal the easy way. Call it professional, call it whatever you want, but it’s still deception and it’s still cheating.
Anyone care to dispute any of the above?
It’s all clear as day but I’m sure there will be takers.
99.9999 % of analysts said it was a 100% penalty. Problem was the referee in questions did not have the balls to upset the red faced cunt.
On the other hand the Brit bull dog was given one when it was not 100%.
I tell you what . There is a conspiracy among all pariteis,FA,match officials to make sure MU win no matter what.
The penalty incident I referred is the one by Fletcher on Ashvin. It was a100% penalty but not according to one Mike dean. For all you know he could be MU fan.
On the subject of referees under performing refs ie. failure to give a clearcut penalty,giving a goal when it has not crossed the line,etc,shd be snet ot referee in league one and have their pay cut by 50 %.
then we will see a seismic improvement . Otherwise we will be forever groaning at the match officials. These guys are very smak at masking thier errors.
U gooners can go fuck off!! Fletcher missed the biggest game in football for a clear tackle wen we hammered u in ur backyard. Shit happens, the game don’t need 20 refs replays or cunts like da silva. U cunts never did mind dishing out bad tackles but never cud take them even wid viera n co. If u don’t want to be tackled, take up fucking netball
Damn, so many frustrated Arsenal fans here. First it was rooney dive. Second it was penalty but if almunia would not touch rooney he would have divied. Now people are trying to watch slow mo and prove that almunia made contact with the ball (mentally most likely).
@Tim, the slow motion replay shows only that Almunia was late with his actions. Ball changing direction? Dude look at the rotation from the moment Rooney touched the ball. And looka at the perspective ball —> almunia’s hands. His hands are behind the ball.
This video proves that Almunia fouled rooney. look how his hands are on rooneys foot. How the hell was he suppose avoid that?
Ok. I watched that twice, and have more fun things to do in life than arsenal funs trying to memorize each nanosecond of this clip.
Cheers. Poor form at the start and we still won with Arsenal.
Good to see arseholes taking defeat well nottttttttttt!
That was a clear penaulty, Wenger knows that, so does Almunia and the rest.
If you can’t see the trajectory of that ball completely change at the exact moment that Almunia’s hand appears to touch it then I really don’t know what to say.
Again, I’ll admit Almunia had a rush of blood to the head and that it was his stupid action which created the situation. But when you’re presented with frame by frame video evidence that clearly shows the ball change trajectory and even more clearly shows your god diving, just throw your hands up and say, “ok, I guess they’re right, we were really lucky to get a goal there.”
And the main reason there are so many frustrated Asenal fans here is because each and every one of these blogs shows up on our newsnow feed. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again this is a top notch fan blog, with lots of current articles and a lot of good football conversation and banter going on.
But you must admit that when we see articles on newsnow lambasting “disgraceful” Eboue and Wenger for diving and then come here and see an article directly above it portraying Wayne Rooney as some kind of football god for doing absolutely f*ck all for 90 minutes besides diving for a penalty that we have a justifiable bone to pick.
That’s exactly why Wenger’s with hunt comments were 100% justified as well. Why is it that Eduardo, after thousands of dives by players all over Europe over the past few years is the one to get all this overblown attention?
Are all of your lot who were screaming for Eduardo to be banned now screaming the same thing about Rooney?
Are all of the Celtic supporters who were screaming for Eduardo to be banned now screaming the same thing about Aiden McGeady after his dive against Hibs at the weekend?
Of course you’re f*cking not and of course they’re f*cking not.
Just be balanced. By claiming Rooney didn’t dive there, which is exactly what this very article does, you are doing the exact same thing for which you wrote an article criticising Arsene Wenger; defending disgraceful cheating.
Your top boy Wazza is a cheat; there’s no way around it.
Good luck against Spurs. Meanwhile, we’ll take care of your new and improved cross town “rivals” for you.
BrisbanRed:
If Arshavin would have got that penalty Fletcher would have been booked!
With a booking he would have to calm down and would NEVER been able to continue with the way of play that earned him the “Man Of The Match”!
@Toby
and everyone saying nonsense like this…
Fletcher calm down?
Have you watched our team trashing your team in semi final of CL we had comfortable lead and Fletcher made decision to tackle CF.
He should have calm down having such big lead but no. he went for CF and got unfairly booked.
So please stfu with this calm down nonsense. Maybe Arsenal players calm down after yellow cards and play at their 50% but our players give their hearts into the game.
Come on throw some another great explanation why you lost this game.
Eduardo was charged with an ‘intent to deceive the referee’
Now I admit that it was a penalty, just what Almunia was doing out there I have no idea. However Rooney was going down before any contact was made. Does this not constitute
“an intent to deceive the referee’
Its not like Rooney doesnt have form, as opposed to Eduardo, who’s dive against Celtic seems to be the first recorded occurence of him diving.
@Gooner
agree there.the decision to ban him is ridiculous.lets see whetehr UEFA can keep up this level of decision making or was this just a one off.
as for rooney,well the contact was made so whether he was going down before or not does not really matter.
黄族之永远回忆录: Yes
It definitely is a penalty!