There will be a lot of jubilation from other teams in the Premiership, not just from Arsenal fans this evening following City’s defeat. In the Newcastle and Blackpool games, we were on the receiving end of some dodgy refereeing decisions that played a part in those victories.
But I don’t for one minute blame Mark Clattenburg for any decisions on Sunday. We were beaten outright by a team who were better than us on the day. I don’t think there are any City fans who could say the opposite.
Okay, so we made it a little easier for them by having Dedryck Boyata sent off after five minutes and, while it could be questionable whether the Arsenal man was in a goalscoring position or not, the fact is, when a situation like that arises, it’s usually going to end in a red card for the defender. Boyata was caught out and he paid the price for that. He will learn.
But what really annoys me are these so called ‘professionals’ who wave cards in an effort to get a player booked or sent off. The referee is in charge of the game, not the players. If he deems it necessary to produce a card, he will do it. It must have happened but I’ve never seen a City player acting like this. I don’t think it changed the ref’s mind as I thought Boyata would go the second the foul was given, but it is incredible how many players still beg for a card.
Given last season’s fixture between the two sides, refereeing this game was always going to be difficult so I can’t blame Clattenburg for anything today, even if some can. He did seem a little card happy but sometimes you get that in a ref. It happens.
For the penalty, I think Kompany had to make the challenge. It was 50-50 and if he hadn’t stepped in, Fabregas could have scored or at least set a goal up so Kompany had to get in there. Luckily, Joe Hart was equal to Fabregas and turned it away.
I’ve come in for a bit of stick from Arsenal fans over my match report but this is how I saw the game from a supporter’s point of view, without the aid of replays. At first glance, Nasri looked to have taken the ball out of play for the third goal but by that stage, City had switched off and Arsenal deserved their third goal and the win.
But it’s quite worrying how we can’t handle losing a man. We lost Boyata and then we lost our shape. We lost Tevez as well as all hope of scoring. We can’t rely on Tevez all the time and Bobby needs to change a few things and have a back up plan should this happen again.
I’m gutted about the result, but we had 90 minutes to swing the game in our favour. We didn’t take it and Arsenal did so fair play to them. But one bad result doesn’t end a season and I’m sure we’ll bounce back against Wolves.
Best Chant In The World
I love it when opposite supporters sing ‘where were you when you were s**t’. They’re chanting that to supporters who followed the team through thick and thin and were still getting big attendances while playing the likes of Northampton and Wycombe in the third tier.
But what I love most is that the chant itself is actually a compliment to us. Just that the opposite supporters actually think we are a good side or are too thick to realise what they’re saying.
Arsenal Fans
I’ve had a little stick about my match report from Arsenal fans. Check them out, there are some amusing ones. I watched the match from a supporters point of view, not from the comfort of my armchair with the benefit of replays and reported accordingly. It may be a little biased but it is from a true supporter.
Anyway, rant over.
CTID
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