Arsenal – Chelsea 0-1: 10 man Arsenal can’t turn it around.

85 Replies to “Arsenal – Chelsea 0-1: 10 man Arsenal can’t turn it around.”

1. This is usually the 1st site I visit after an Arsenal loss. #WengerOut comments are the last thing needed when we lose so I commend you guys for your unwavering support of him.

   I think we played quite well despite being a man down. We could have and should have converted one of the numerous chances we had in the second half. It’s a pity our forwards left their shooting boots at home. Entertaining match, just not the result I was hoping for.

2. We seem to misplace our shooting boots against the chavz.

3. We always bring our worst game for Chelsea games, and they always play clever/evil football against us. Disappointed. 2 points from last 3 games isn’t nearly enough. Let’s hope we can kick in from here on.

4. Was it a red? looked to me like he took a dive? I must admit, I was hoping we would get that one rescinded?
   Still, we are up there, and credit to the team for effort.
   We can beat Barca Bayern Utd and City, but unfortunately not Chelsea in the league….maybe a chance to put this poor record behind us will come in a cup competition this year.
   As OMG said in the other thread, we have been fluffing a few chances. Think the return of Alexis will help, he seems to raise the game of those around him. Not meaning to,disrespect those who have stood in, but think we are really missing Coq as well.
   Still, after a difficult run, and long term injuries to key players we are three points off the lead. And the team in front have some very tough games coming up, including us, just need our shooting boots back.

5. Maybe we try TOO hard against Chelsea.

6. Walcott seems very off

7. The foul on Kos before the ball gets put back into the box for the goal is surprisingly ignored. Costa kicks kos on the leg near the knee – damned sight more contact than Mert on Costa but nobody sees it. It is time Arsenal players start to roll aroud after every touch. In fact when Kos ran into the Chelsea area & was fouled, he didn’t go down. If he did we might have got a pen. Problem is we are a clean football playing team & do not cheat.

8. Thanks Walter, I had seen conflicting reports as to the foul by Mert. If it was a foul then the decision was right. From my end of the stadium it looked more like a dive. I just wish Mert had really fouled him!
   The more worrying thing was that we never really looked like scoring. The few good chances we did create all fell to Flamini who isn’t noted for his goad scoring abilities. Theo’s touch was poor all game and Özil still looked as though he was in pain. Sanchez far from match fit.
   FA Cup next week, maybe a chance to rest some players, but don’t want too many changes.

9. First of all the team tried their guts out despite the disappointment of the early send off and the goal which followed so quickly. So well done guys.

   Just before the goal Costa seemed to kick Kos as a cross came in – no foul?

   I am not convinced on the send off, I am not sure if there was any contact with Costa – the theatrical diving cheating git! (Sorry Walter/Tony – I am still angry!)

   Costa and some of his team mates are a disgrace to football – but are supported by the PGMO and media – for whatever dark motive and purpose.

10. Mandy,

    Maybe, but what other option do we have? Chavski set themselves up for the bus park, they get one lucky (?) decision in their favor, ok, maybe more than one, considering Mikel’s attempt to wrestling, what’s left to do? The ball just wouldn’t go in their net today. One of our many missed shots going in would have changed everything. It’s useless to think like that, but I don’t see any wrong in going all out attack in these conditions. And even if we keep a sense of perspective and expand to the past few matches, the pattern is still the same.

11. dan – you are right. Theo is a little shy of aggression. He must have a psycological fear of injury.

12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYk4ohXP6ks

    Here is a video of the incident.

13. Wenger must appeal the red card & Costa must be banned for simulation. He rolled like he had been shot. I just wish some fokker did shoot the cheating diving bastard.

    The FA will not do anything – another sham & some bullshit will follow.

    Arsenal must play the clean game & win despite the cheats, the PGMO, the media & TheFA.

14. Was a dive, Per didn’t even touch him, as can be seen here. Might have been slightly difficult for the ref to see but the way he went straight to fish the red card out of his pocket showed he was determined to send Per off. He might have consulted with the linesman at least. When I first saw it I thought what was Per doing there, but he’s one who hardly ever mistimes a tackle, and that combined with the reputation of the culprit, should have meant a sober ref might have wanted to consult first before acting.

    Walter, and a few others, agree Mikel was lucky to get only a yellow for smashing Alexis in the face. Why are we never afforded such chances?? Even when refs haven’t got a clear view of what really happened they’re quick to mete out maximum punishment to our players (last year Mariner sent Gibbs off when he wasn’t even clear who had committed the offense).

    There’s a clear agenda of stopping Arsenal. Mandy rightly pointed out that Arsenal sitting top of the league is more likely to result in pigmob screwing us than if we’re second or third. The way the last 3 matches have been officiated demonstrates that.

15. Just heard Wengers interview….said the red was harsh.
    Worryingly, he said OG was in a bit of pain from a training injury. Ozils movement looked a bit jaded as well.
    Please no new injuries!

16. Not a red in terms of reality, i.e I’m 99.9999 per cent certain that any touch was very slight and that Costa could easily have carried on (I’d be surprised if more than 5 in a 100 people playing amateur football would go down there; you’d just streak clear with your eyes on scoring past the keeper), but in terms of the reality of modern professional football and, more importantly, what the ref’s view would have been, I think it was a fair enough red.

    The fact that it is almost entirely accepted that people behave differently and dishonestly in professional football is a different matter. A sad one, but we all know it is the case and we all persist with football anyway.

    The saddest part is that no commentators even seem aware or that it is worthy of comment that PEOPLE DO NOT FALL OVER IN THAT FASHION.

    If you are trying to remain on your feet having had your balance effected it doesn’t look like that at all, and the whole legs splayed foot dragging thing is fantastically bizarre given no human being who has lost their balance or been tripped in normal life (where you’d rather not fall over) has ever fallen like that. So the situation is that divers don’t even attempt a con of falling as you would if you really fell. They’ve invented a whole new, unique pantomime of falling. Sad, but it’s football.

    I wish Per had calculated what a bad call it was to dive in there, but he didn’t, so on to the next one.

    Positives are that we are still in the race, have players returning, performed creditably after going behind and didn’t have one of those uber painful beatings put on us that I feared was coming for a while after the red.

17. Hope Wenger brings in GB Olympic diving medallist in to assist training next week, Kos could do with some coaching in that area…..

18. The link here again.
    No contact.

19. This is the Daily Express take on the red card incident

    ‘Arsenal never recovered after Per Mertesacker was given a red card for hauling down Diego Costa in the 18th-minute as the striker raced clear.’

    Hauling down?
    Rather a flamboyant description don’t you agree.

20. Sorry…Sunday Express.

21. A very accurate assessment Walter.
    It seems all Arsenal mistakes tend to get punished against Chelsea, while none of theirs, and there were plenty, ever do.

    The talking point of the game was the sending off, but no one seems to talk about how poor Mertesacker was on that play.
    His first mistake was to get drawn forward by Costa into Chelsea half of the pitch. If there’s one thing a slow center half should never do when the opposing team has the ball, is to lose the advantage of the half way line for his off side play. By following Costa into Chelsea’s half and even getting in front of him , Mertesacker made sure there could be no off side call against Costa in case of the over the top ball.

    What made this decision even worse was the fact Arsenal had the players to deal with the Chelsea threat and there was absolutely no need for Mertesacker to do this.

    His second mistake was to look over to the linesman just before he made his tackle, and possibly effecting his timing of the tackle.

    The fact he didn’t argue with the red card should give the naysayers the indication it was a foul and the sending off.

    Amateur- like defending from such an experienced player.

    For the Chelsea goal , it was Koscielny vacating the position at the near post just before the crossing of the ball and leaving Costa unmarked.

    Again, there was no need for Koscielny to try to attack the ball or to block it, as there were Arsenal players in front of him on this play.

    The only time he should ever do this , is when he follows his mark. He didn’t. He allowed Costa to sneak in behind him for an easy finish.

    Costa was Chelsea’s danger man and he shouldn’t have left him unmarked.

    It’s a very deflating loss because Chelsea have been very poor all season and they were there for the taking. Unfortunately Arsenal players have let themselves and Arsene Wenger down.

22. I think Mert must have caught Costa quite severely judging by the way Costa went down writhing in agony and clutching his ankle.
    Or could the snidey bastard have been trying to con the referee?

23. Tip for Per to avoid red cards for….alleged….last man fouls:

    Have the name Martin Di Michelis printed on your shirt

24. @AI, from this angle it looks a bit different, indeed.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYk4ohXP6ks

25. Just two comments on the game…
    1. Costa seemed to continue his run for a few yards before going to ground. Would another referee have booked him for a dive?
    2. Our best chance came with Flamini’s miss from within the area. As a DMF, should he have even been there on that and other occasions? And if not, perhaps a legitimate attacker would have put the ball away.
    A couple of questions…not criticisms.

26. Josif
    The one from your link is from the front, so cannot look the same. But even then you can see there is no contact…

    Tom
    You are aaaaaaaaa, now piss off please.

27. Lead up to the red card:

    Hand ball inside the Chelsea penalty area – not given
    Costa offside at the point of the long ball forward
    Cost clipped Merts then pulled his arm
    Costa fell over dramatically – no contact by Merts – several sources prove this
    The referee was unsighted as he was behind the play
    The referee first went to his yellow card pocket then changed to the other pocket and pulled out the red.

    Questions:

    Will PGMOL release the communications for the above incidents to prove WHO made those calls? Was it referee, linesman or 4th official?

    Will we appeal?
    Will it be rescinded?

    Hmmm

28. Josif,

    In the video, at the moment of alleged contact, the ball obstructs the actual spot, so there is not enough conclusive evidence that there was a contact.

    https://florinb1.smugmug.com/Sports/Arsenal-Chelsea-2015-2016/n-J9923B/i-mbXtmj7/A

29. Norman14, maybe non of the above, maybe it was the Chelsea player when he was going for the yellow?

30. Tom, certainly agree we get punished against Chelsea, more red cards against them than anyone else, and by a significant margin in recent years.
    Arsenal are not exactly a dirty team either.
    So there must be a reason for all these refs.
    Maybe ours are trying too hard to get this monkey off their back.
    Maybe the refs give us a raw deal in this fixture, still looked harsh to me today, then there was Dean earlier in the season, then a succession of …erm…performances by Atkinson.
    Or maybe, Chelsea are just a lot better at the dark arts, or Arsenal chose not to use them. Wenger did warn before the game, about Costa specifically in fairness to him.
    On a level playing field, our team should be at least a match for that team today, just very frustrating it never works out that way. We can match them at football, but may never be able to match them in the dark arts of the game, and do we pay for it!

31. Above….meant to say there must be a reason for all these reds, not refs…..though come to think of it…..

32. Norman 14

    The referee went for the red card after an appeal from Oscar (strangely Oscar has been known to dive from time to tome.)

33. @Tom,
    If you watch the replay, you’ll actually see Costa run across behind Per and actually pushes him forward (at 14 seconds on the ESPN highlights link below), which is how he got the space before the Willian pass.

    It’s interesting to see Mertesacker’s face at 33 seconds on the clip, his face literally goes from looking to see if Costa is going to score since he missed him, to a straight look of disappointment once he sees Costa flapping like a fish out of water.

    For some reason, my post does not go through with the ESPN link.

34. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYk4ohXP6ks

    43 second mark

35. https://youtu.be/suuxea6y3_k

    Wrong link. Sorry

36. If, if, if. It’s a miracle our recent run of results hasn’t left us too far adrift, but I fear they will be doing untold damage to our morale and prospects of piecing a run together. Hope I’m wrong, of course.

37. Just read the wise words of Cech http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160124/-we-missed-the-last-touch-in-the-box-

    NO need to panic. In fact we did really well after the sending off. Had the goal not been scored so soon after the red card we would have played with a different tactic and that might have worked better.
    I think Gabriel and Kos weren’t really prepared completely and organised.

    The only way Chelsea can beat us is or by referees who cheat or by players who cheat and by having sent Arsenal players off the field.

38. I still expect us to win the league from here for the following reasons:
    1. We are on the same points with City even though we’ve had a worse injury record.
    2. I have seen nothing from City that convinces me they are better (the points haul is proof).
    3. Our first teamers are gradually coming back.
    4. This team has shown that they can rise from adversity (eg. Champion’s league).
    5. The hunger in the team is palpable.
    6. We will beat Leceister at home.
    Beat Leceister at home, and that clears the 3 point deficit. Avoid defeat at WHL, then take more points than City and Leceister and we are champions of England…Keep the faith.

39. Walter, I am sorry but that was a red car all day long. The way we we played in the 1st 20 mins was not pleasant viewing at all.

40. I’ll risk repeating myself but IMHO the biggest game will be against the Spuds. IF we can take them, we can press on with confidence and elan, even if we tie them, it is a positive step forward. That said, our season is made up of points earned over 38 games, NOT just a few so, based on our potential and our real form I’d be willing to bet we will be in it right up until the end.
    As far as players’ form goes, we are heading towards solidifying our team and achieving a real balance. Giroud is VERY reliable striker, Sanchez is a game-changer, Ozil is always a powerful influence on any game just by being there to distract defenses, Walcott and the Ox have the potential to be thorns in opponents’ sides, Cech will be our brick-wall as always, etc. etc.
    Our biggest threats right now and for the remainder of this season will be two-fold; the PIGMOB and the injury demon, bo0th of which have haunted us since 2005.

41. I neglected to mention Coquelin, Wilshire, Wellbeck and Campbell (especially Campbell)who can add significant threat and effectiveness to our attack.

42. http://footballisfixed.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/mark-halsey-referee-of-integrity.html?m=1

43. omgarsenal: On our current form and their current form we would be sent packing. It pains me to say this but they are actually playing well and winning.

44. That’s the key, how we do against teams up with us. This team ….well, Chelsea do seem to bring out the worst in many ways, but they also know they can beat the likes of Spurs, City, Leicester, Utd.
    Our breaking of the Chelsea hoodoo will have to wait for another day, but we do not face them again in the league.
    Our game against the Spuds will undoubtedly have Dean, Atkinson or Taylor in charge, but hopefully, we will have a lot of players back.
    There have been articles on here recently about the number of players we have had out being nothing special, but the problem has been, we have had long term injuries to key players, not just squad members.
    I cannot think of another team who would be so near the top having lost equivalents to Cazorla, Coq, Alexis, Wilshere, Welbeck,, Ox, Walcott, Ramsey for two months plus. But that’s where we sit.
    But, yes, the pgmol are a threat. I am sure there are those who want a northern giant to win , failing that, put the premier league in a better light by having a less monied title winner.
    I believe we have shown a few signs of perhaps mental, if not physical fatigue lately, understandable with the lack of chance to rotate. Hopefully that will soon change, but a word of warning, the likes of Ozil, OG and Bellerin have played many games and need to be handled with care

45. The point is, any striker worth his salt will go down in exactly the same way given the same situation. Much as I hate Costa, I don’t blame him at all. Rank bad defending from Mert, compounded by the fact that he is cart horse slow. The short time he was on the pitch he was poor, as was Kos. I’m still convinced Arsenal choke when confronted by Chelsea. Half the team didn’t turn up. I knew after 15 minutes we weren’t going to win that.

46. @Somil

    1.City have played without Kompany, Agüero, Yaya Toure and Silva for a long time this season. Agüero is back and is banging goals to give them points (Watford and West Ham are good examples).

    2.Actually, they are above us because they score more goals. They have won both of their titles in the last four years by outscoring their title rivals.

    3.True, Alexis really looked sharp today but lacked someone with a final touch in the box.

    4.True. The problem is, we have rarely managed to claw back from going behind in all competitions. We have won two games after conceding first goal of the game in all competitions (Leicester in the league and Sunderland in FA Cup) with draws against Spuds and Liverpool. We have lost seven points from the winning position (West Brom, Norwich and Liverpool, with a regular PGMO-footnote on all those matches).

    5.True.

    6.True, except it’s easy to say that. Leicester have only league to care about as they are out of FA Cup thanks to our noisy neighbours. Manchester City have individual quality and less tricky away games in their schedule than we do.

    I like the spirit though.

47. think we need Coq back asap. Flam has done well, and stand to be corrected here, but defensively, we have looked a lot more vulnerable since losing Coq.

48. It is ground hog day and will continue to be so until players like Walcot adopt a “bust a gut winners attitude” on the pitch instead of a press studio.
    Rambo and Flamini what was that all about? the chavs midfield’s darn good and yet both of our defensive mids decided to imitate strikers for the game with both in the chavs box at the same time again and again, as for Mertesaker I’d love to say it wasn’t a red but I cant the ref called it right. The way we’ve been playing since before xmas we don’t deserve to be anywhere near the top of the league we are nothing short of bloody awful at the moment. Arsene must be tearing his hair out at the lack of ambition that’s displayed on the pitch.

49. @Mandy Dodd – Arsenal with Coquelin on the pitch have conceded a goal at every 178,6 minutes.

    Without him we have conceded a goal at every 69,23 minutes.

    (League only.)

50. Wow…Thanks Josif, that is significant , and telling.
    Seem to remember we had the leagues best defensive record, or thereabouts with him playing, but now, our goal difference, and points haul seems to have gone south a bit.
    Cazorla as his partner is also a significant loss.
    Guess that shows the urgency in getting Elneny in, though he will need time.
    Flamini has in my mind performed well, but you can see teams targeting him. He has had fitness and injury issues, but we have not been able to rotate him, these games will catch up with our alternative to fossil fuel Eco warrior.
    Coq really is some player, as those stats prove

51. Trugun – not a true gunner if you can say our recent playing has been bloody awful. Nonsense! Even today we played very well in the second half when down to ten men.

52. We have in a week played two of the three teams that detest Arsenal more than all others…..not easy facing teams so up for it.
    Liverpool perhaps not so far behind on those stakes.

53. Tom
    I’m going to dissect your nonsensical post which you attempted to make look positive by throwing an opening line that seems as if you were agreeing with Walter and being sympathetic with Arsenal.

    “By following Costa into Chelsea’s half and even getting in front of him , Mertesacker made sure there could be no off side call against Costa in case of the over the top ball.”

    Fyi, even though Per was in the Chelsea half, Koscielny was way in Arsenal’s meaning whatever over the top ball that may have been done by a Chelsea player ,Costa would have been onside either way (in his half or ours, as kos was playing him on).

    “His second mistake was to look over to the linesman just before he made his tackle,”

    I think it’s a bit silly to think Per was looking to see if the linesman had raised his flag for offside after he’d chased Costa down for 10 yards or so, at full speed. A more plausible explanation as to why Per quickly glanced to his right before making the tackle was to see if his partner was making enough ground to cover the danger. He may have been thinking if I make the tackle with Kos level, which he almost was by then, he wouldn’t be deemed as last man in defence. Or he was simply counting on the quicker Kos to close the gap down but realised he was never going to get there on time resulting in Per deciding to put a challenge in. That seems to make more sense to me, than the views of Jamie Caragher and other useless pundits that you tried to express here as yours. Either way, should it be your view or Caragher’s, it shows Per is a lot smarter than both of you, and was actually trying to achieve something that neither of you could comprehend.

    “The fact he didn’t argue with the red card should give the naysayers the indication it was a foul and the sending off.”

    Wrong again. A player of Per’s experience knows trying to argue your case with a ref after he’s shown you a red card is a waste of time. It won’t change anything. He initially approached the ref and just didn’t walk away like a guilty man as you try to portray. In case you have forgotten, the other unjustified red card against us early in the season on Gabriel was rescinded by the fa, but Gabriel was later suspended for one match and fined £10000 for doing exactly what you accuse Per of not doing. Per 1 – 0 Tom, again.

    You need to stop spouting the pundits’ and other equally incompetent journos’ thoughts here and passing them as yours. You might get a little more respect.

54. Just been watching again. During the incident, Chelsea players surrounded the ref, as they do. Ours didn’t.
    Are we missing a trick here….making it too easy for refs to give things against us……or are our players just ground down by the pgmol, knowing that resistance is futile?
    Do think there may be something to be said for getting in refs faces, it works for Chelsea, it worked for Fergie….and once, many moons ago, worked for us

55. Mandy if we did that it would be another point of view where are bad losers,everything is twist by the poodits and media its making me sick, just watched full match beautiful dive costa.

56. al yours words are wisdoms Are stuff of legends lol

57. When the match was about to start and i saw the line-ups, i thought to my myself : Why Mertesacker,not Gabriel? I think Gabriel has proven that he’s as reliable as Mert and he’s much faster than Mert. So why not start him instead of Mertesacker? Mertesacker is a good defender but he lacks the speed we need when we face some fast opponent’s forwards. To play him, we need a very good DM to cover his lack of pace. When Coquelin is around,no problem there, but when Coq is not around,it poses big problem for us. Isn’t that true?

    Then when Mert was sent off, why did Wenger has to “axed” Giroud? I simply couldn’t understand that decision and perhaps will never do. All i could say to myself was….”alright, Wenger is the coach, perhaps he knows something we don’t”. Nevertheless, i couldn’t accept the decision. If we have to lose, then 0-1 or 0-5 won’t make any difference to me. I think Wenger should have sacrificed Campbell than Giroud, then brought in Alexis and Elneny to replace Ramsey and Flamini. Elneny is a much better passer than Ramsey (Ramsey has been very poor on his passes lately) and a better DM. And…..he’s a better finisher than Flamini,too. So, why don’t give him a chance?

    All in all, we’re not that bad at all. The spirit is there. I think we’re gonna be okey and can still make it this season. Keep the faith,guys. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

58. Once Per was sent off , the game was effectively over for us . But apparently many here have to get their eyes tested too along with the ref . Unless of course he was just bent . What are the chances of that happening in the EPL ?

    And speaking of impaired vision …..

    A man bumps into an old high school friend he hadn’t seen for a number of years. His old friend was notorious for bragging back in high school – about his possessions, achievements and relationships, so he wondered if much had changed in the time since he last saw him.

    It wasn’t long before the man realized his old friend hadn’t changed much at all – on and on he rambled, talking about his amazing job, his huge mansion and the new Porsche he’d just bought himself.

    At one point, the old friend pulls out a photograph of his wife and shows it to the man. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” the old friend asks.
    “If you think she’s gorgeous, you should see my girlfriend,” replies the man.

    “Why? Is she a stunner too?”

    “No, she’s an optometrist.”

59. When playing against Chelsea we need to find a way to go around the parked bus. Chelsea with all those talents played parked the bus is just disgraceful.

    Though I’m a AW supporter but I think subbing off Giroud was a mistake, with Giroud we would have better option with set plays.

    Good thing is we are only 3 points behind the leader.

60. I cannot fault our performance at all.
    Down to 10 men and still could have won, well different to previous losses of a player.
    I was so proud of the effort we put in with 10 men.

    Chin up lads, an incident that could have just been a foul from another ref resulted in a red, but no heads dropped, our 10 players were playing well and trying to score.

    Although disappointing, we’re still on track.

61. topanlesmana:
    See Arsenal.com for AW reasons on subbing Giroud.

62. We have been robbed atleast 5 points this season due to refereeing decision. BUT We couldve easily won this game despite being 10 men for majority of the game. If only Flamini had his shooting boots on instead of the defending ones….

63. Im just hoping we can regroup and not choke as we have seen time and time again .Our form as late has been lousy as We’ve taken a hammering from a poor Southampton, we’ve conceded a lead late at Liverpool, drawn against a Stoke and we’ve just dropped 3 points against a really bad Chelsea team that we haven’t beaten competitively for 46 years.

64. Walter

    Very well done with the match report.

65. Arsenal need to hire a shrink. I think Chelsea beating us is the brain

66. What the fuck is the matter with your memory John? We beat Chelsea in the CS. It is not Chelsea that wins it is the stupid PGMO that get fooled. Costa should have been shown the red for simulation & a yellow for kicking Kos.

    Why can you stupid idiots not see what is in front of you? Do you only see what the pundits talk about? I saw Costa foul Mert on the center circle & then run towards the ball. I then saw him dive without being touched & roll over like a bitch on heat. Clattenburg got a hard on & pulled a red card out with 5 Chelsea players surrounding him. The FA didn’t see a thing as they have been promised a cruise on Romans yacht.

    Prior to the goal, Costa swung a boot at Kos, hitting him in the knee & causing him to go down. Clattenburg was still fantasizing & ignored the foul. The ball was returned into the box & Costa now free from Kos managed to boot the ballinto the net.

    Those of you who waffle on about analysis need to start to see before you analyse.

    Because Mert walks when shown a red card does not make him guilty. It makes him sporting & honourable. He accepted the PGMO appointed cheats decision without question.

    Wenger said Costa has two of our players sent off in 2 games. If you really understand the wisdom of the man, he is saying Costa simulated contact. The PGMO are above reproach by the club but I dont care about their status because they have corrupted football by selective appointments & cheating behind closed doors with their version of Laws of the Game.

67. Yet again we dont get a chance to play Chelsea 11 v 11. The first game when Costa cheated we only had 10 on the pitch and no matter about rescinded cards, we cant get the points back.

    I have seen plenty of replays of the Mertesacker incident and nobody has mentoned the fact that if there was any contact it would have n=been minimal and nnot caused Costa to fall down. As clear a dive as you will ever see but this falls into the catgory of ‘if you feel a touch you go down’. Thsi is a philosophy I totally disagree with.

    But whether there was ‘minimal’ contact or not, Costa could be seen screaming in agony, bothe legs went stiff and he rolled over three or four times. It is just bloody ridiculous to be honest. I used to cringe when Pires had a habit of falling over too easy so I am not being a hypocrit – I hate what modern football has become with all this play acting.

    The problem is, Costa wont get criticised Per will.

    Totally pissed off to be honest, 18 minutes in and we are already disadvantaged – same time as the Champions League Final. We dont seem to get any breaks.

    On another note:

    We appear to have some appalling fans. After the game, the abuse being hurled at the players and the accusation of ‘bottlers’ was doing the rounds. Who are these idiots? I was gutted for every player, Wenger & his staff; all who showed real character to try to get something despite playing a man short for 72 minutes. The irony was those saying Giroud should have stayed on after the game had ended are the same ones who have been slagging him off for the last 3 seasons! I wouldnt want any of these so called fair weather ans in the trenches with me – they are teh bottlers. Disgraceful way to behave towards the team who showed real guts. Be disappointed by all means, we are all hurting.

68. * would have been minimal and would not have caused Costa to fall down!

69. John.

    Nobody choked, what absolute garbage. Stop listening to Talksport mate, you are letting them brainwash you.

    If we had choked, we would have lost that by 4 or 5 after going down to ten men so early. Easy then to let your heads go down and start feeling sorry for yourselves but I didnt see anyone do that, did you? 72 minutes with ten players is tough except in your world of cheap sound bytes.

70. Al

    I can sort of see why you would accuse me of plagiarism since I don’t remember you having an original thought expressed on here, ever.

    If it helps( I won’t hold my breath) , I TiVo all Arsenal and other top clubs’ matches and I use the video footage readily available to me to form all my “nonsensical” analysis, and I NEVER use somebody’ else’s opinion and pass it off as my own.

    That’s how I was able to come up with the answer to the dilemma expressed on here a few days ago, as to where the extra time added on to the extra 7 minutes in the Chelsea/ Everton game came from, which you of course rejected out of hand ( as you would) and called it nonsensical.

    I’m sorry I called you an Idiot in the process, but anyone thinking 1 minute and 17 seconds equals 117 seconds, is an Idiot. That’s on you I’m afraid.

    Regarding your ” brilliant” analysis of my ” nonsensical ” post , I couldn’t help to notice that you have Mertesacker looking over to his right to see if Koscielny is in line with him, in which case he should make the tackle, as he wont be deemed the last man if he misses.

    Or perhaps , Mertesacker looks over to his right to see that Koscielny is too far behind to cover the extra ground, in which case Mertesacker still makes the tackle.

    Here’s a question: why look to his right at all ,if in both cases he was making the tackle anyways. Only you would know I suppose.

    Al, Stick to calling people” aaaaaaa” and telling them “to piss off” , instead of elaborate analysis of their posts. It might make more sense 🙂

71. Menace
    For a start i said a competitive match.Your ref blaming for everything is very very boring and tedious.If you want to blame anyone what about flamini for not closing fabregas down or merts for allowing costa space to run in behind him and entice the challenge.Surley our slowest player shouldnt be left one on one with costa??Surely you could see that even in Goa..And because Arsene says something doesnt mean its a fact .All managers lie.
    As for the game Chelsea were the better tean before the sending off and we started sluggish again.The second half i thought we were tremendous with 10 men and worked tirelessly to get back in it but we have seen all too often the damage was done.

72. @ Menace I went to have a look at what you were saying about fouls but there was no foul on Kos before the goal as Kos wrapped his leg around Costa trying to clear which put him off balance. However, the Mert incident there might have been a foul on Mert first as it look like Costa pulled Mert down before he made the run.

    Anyway, it’s our first home lost since the start of season so we are doing ok at home. The team played well with 10 men so let hope we take it as a positive and go on a winning run.

73. Guys, we should stop with the personal insults, we all have different opinions which is a good thing as we can see from another point of view but remember we all have the same want for Arsenal to win the title.

74. Chaps.

    Lets stop bickering because at teh end of the day we were all cheated by Diego Costa – again!

    Take a look at this because it explains in pictures what I and many other have been saying:-

    http://www.balls.ie/football/diego-costa-dive-arsenal-frame-by-fram-analysis/322387

75. Supporting a team should not make one shy away from the truth. No one closed down Willian before he made that pass, Flamini was tracking back instead of closing him down!Mertasacker is obviously slow, and lunged at Costa.The contact was minimal,and Costa exaggerated it, infact he wasn’t tripped at all, he tumbled intentionally and rolled like an epileptic mad man.Mark Halsey a former EPL ref said that it was immaterial whether there was contact or not,that the fact that Mertasacker lunged at Costa showed intent to foul him, hence he should still have been sent off nevertheless. I’ll like to know if that’s what the Fifa rule says about that or Mark Halsey was wrong.If he was right, then Mertasacker shouldn’t have lunged like that knowing there was a good chance he would not get the ball, since Costa played the ball before Mertasacker’s leg came across him.My frustration about Mertasacker is that being an experienced defender, who is apparently slow, he shouldn’t have given the ref a decision to make by lunging at Costa, he should have tried to keep chasing the ball, even though Costa is faster, and he should have trusted that Cech might make the save.Worst case scenario Chelsea scores,we would still have had over 70 minutes left to win the match,Chelsea has a weak defence as Westbrom and Everton showed,we would definately have scored against them with 11 vs 11.

76. Proudkev
    We are here to debate the match .People are going to bicker on a message board because we all have different opinions on why we lost the match.Not everyone thinks that when we lose ,its all down tpo the referees.Going back to the match, sanchez was a breath of fresh air when he came on and tried to take the game to chelsea .With his energy and enthusiasm hopefully we can kick on from here.One other thing though the sooner we break up ramsay and flamini the better.Neither have the discipline to play dcm and at times early on both were bombing forward with total disregard for any defensive duties.Maybe its worth bringing elneny in until coq returns,which cannot come soon enough.

77. yj,

    Mark Halsey was right. But that didn’t stop him from shying away from such decisions in his days 😉

    Per made a mistake by diving in like he did. In fact you can even say that Costa has every right to make ‘impact minimal’ to avoid injury. Per threw himself in the running path of Costa and forced him to make jump over him or to go down. I hate Costa as much as anyone else but Per should have been wiser and trusted a bit more on Cech maybe.

    So yes just by diving in Per committed a foul and as he was the last defender the ref had no option to send him off.

    Now of course if this would also happen if it was an Arsenal player going on goal every time… we would have less problems with the decision…?

78. For the second game in a row it seems the referee was NOT making the decisions that he should have been. Last week, we saw Dean, continuously jabbering away to Pawson, and this week it was Moss. What do they talk about? Why is it “secret”?

    This is the 2nd time this season that a referee (or whoever), has cost us dear by sending one of our players off against the SAME team. It is not only the same opposition, but the SAME player.

    I wouldn’t mind as much if the decisions were consistent – but they are not. Costa’s attempted stamp on Rambo and Mikel’s attempted neck breaker on Alexis, just show that diving is more well rewarded than a physical attack on players.

    Elsewhere, the very fact that Anthony Taylor was in charge this week, (or dressed up as a referee) at all, just shows that PGMOL have no conscience. They, and by default, the FA don’t give a rat’s arse about supporters, who pay extortionate ticket prices, to watch constant cheating by both opposition and officials.

    Who knows, maybe PGMOL even let our players know before the game that we were never going to win.

    That’s how bad it’s getting.

79. Tom
    You’re a complete moron. When I plucked the figure of 117 seconds it was just a random figure…you really thought I’d add a minute and 17 seconds to come up with that???

    I didn’t even see your post calling me an idiot anyway. I’ve tried not to call you any names since the last time, which I apologised for, but can see you are persisting with name-calling. You know what, I regret ever withdrawing the personal insult that I called you last time, coz you fully deserve it.

    I went and challenged all 3 things you said Per did wrong, but you couldn’t even offer a better answer to any of them. You claim to have played football, all baloney of course, how can you explain a defender chasing a player down for 10 yards or so before looking to see if the linesman’s flag is up? If you really think Per was checking to see if the linesman’s flag was up at that point then that says more about your brain than Per’s supposed ‘stupidity’, and I think I know which is the more likely answer to that. I gave you two possible scenarios why Per makes a quick sideways glance, but you still want me to explain that to you? Are you that thick? I lumped your opinion together with Caragher’s as he was whining on Sky making exactly the same stupid point that Per was checking to see if the linesman had raised his flag, which to anyone with an analytical mind looked outright ridiculous. I know Per is a very intelligent defender, he makes up for his lack of speed by using his astute reading of the game to stay out danger. Even his attempted last ditch tackle on Costa was good(he may have missed the ball but he DIDN’T touch the man), he was only unlucky to be penalised by a card-happy ref who punished for nothing(a ref who has cost us 4 points by himself this season if one looks at the west brom fixture).

    You go on about doing your analysis on TiVo, as if that’d add more weight to your argument… very shallow thinking. Your TiVo footage must be faulty then coz you claimed Per was playing Costa on from an over the top ball, when it’s clear Kos was the last man in our defence when that pass was played. Why don’t you answr that, instead of going after what Per was thinking as if you have an amazing ability to read his mind.

80. John.
    Thanks. Yes, we have definitely been damaged losing Coquelin and Cazorla to those unfortunate injuries. Flamini has done his best with Aaron but I would argue that the Cazorla/Coquelin pairing was the best in the PL.

    To be fair, we have done well to remain competitive losing so many influential players and those who have come in have done a good job. However, some players are irreplaceable and cannot be replaced, like the aforementioned.

    We are 3 points off top, with more home than away games and most importantly with top players returning. Sanchez makes us stronger, Coquelin makes us stronger and I would certainly add Elneny to that list. Personally, I would like to see little Santi return, he makes us tick.

    So I am optimistic for the rest of the season; the returning players will make us better and they should be as fit as fiddles for the busy run in, taking into account the Chamnpions League games and another bash at the FA Cup. That gives us an advantage.

    Having said all that, the sooner we rid the game of the cheats like Costa, irrespective of who they play for, the better. I have watched endless replays and if there was a touch it was so minimal that even after the replays its unclear. He’s conned the ref and had absolutely no need to go down, let alone roll around screaming. I would love 5 minutes in a room with Costa, holding a pair of pliars – I’ld give him something to cry about!!

81. Interesting to see that Connor Whickam has been charged over an elbow to some dirty Spud, but Mikel only got a yellow for throat hooking Sanchez, while Costa got nothing for attempting to stamp on Rambo. Apparently, Ali got away with a stamp as well. It just shows, it’s not what you know…

82. For those of you slagging the players and the club off. Those at the match at the end of the game after a bit of booing directed at the match officials, then applauded the Arsenal players for their efforts. We saw how the game unfolded and, as I wrote in another comment, the performance could not reasonably be faulted after the first half hour. Even then, the game was relatively even.

83. “Tom .You’re a complete moron. When I plucked the figure of 117 seconds it was just a random figure…you really thought I’d add a minute and 17 seconds to come up with that???”

    Oh Al.

    This is what I wrote re Chelsea/ Everton extra time Terry goal.

    ” Everton scored their go ahead goal in the 90 minute , by which time the fourth official had already added 7 minutes of extra time. Everton players went into the stands to celebrate the goal.
    1 minute and 17 seconds elapsed before they were made to take their positions to enable the restart of the game.

    The extra 1 minute and 17 seconds were added onto the 7 minutes. Terry scored the Chelsea equalizer in 98 minute, well within the time allocated.”

    This was your reply:

    “Was the 7 additional minutes added on in the Chelsea match justified?
    Highly unlikely. I don’t buy this nonsense of saying Everton SCORED IN MINUT 90 AND CELEBRATED FOR 117 SECONDS….”

    Your stupid reply was made directly to my post and my post only. I know this because no one else had put forth this explanation.

    Why would any sane person ” pluck” a random figure to rebuke a specific amount of time suggested is beyond me.

    Look Al , discussing anything Arsenal or football related with you is totally pointless because you are incapable of logical thinking and you know nothing about football.

    We have been around this block once or twice you and I , haven’t we.

    Remember the Kolstrom debate? When you claimed Kolstrom was brought in to fill in for injured Ramsey and you said he did just that.

    When I did the math and pointed out that Kolstrom only played in 1.66% of all the games Ramsey would’ve likely played had he been fit, you still refused to acknowledge you were wrong, and persisted in your beliefs.
    You are an Idealog , and as with any Idealog ,facts mean nothing to you.

    As for the name calling, feel free to call me any name you see fit and never apologize for it. I don’t care 🙂

84. para:
    I’ve seen it. I’ve seen all of it. So what? Do you think Wenger was right and everybody else who doesn’t agree with him is wrong? Lemme tell you something, i’m not the only one to think that subbed Giroud and not Campbell in the last game was a wrong decision. You should realize that even though Wenger is a very good manager, he’s not a God. He could be wrong, you know. As much as we love Arsenal, we don’t always have to agree with his decision. That’s the same as saying that even if you love your wife to death, you can’t always agree with everything she decides. Isn’t that so? lol

85. I certainly do not agree with everything AW does, absolutely not. I do however rate “The Breakdown” on Arsenal.com which gives a truthful no holds barred breakdown on the game.

    As manager, i myself would have taken Theo off not Giroud, and also found some way to bring Elneny on for a while, but as many said, we do never get the full picture needed to make decisions, he does.