22 Feb 2026 19:38:30
the quality of refereeing in this league is abysmal. Referees need to be held accountable. Our game and the spurs game. Spurs were robbed of an equaliser which went on to change the game. Referees need to be held accountable, they're well paid and still performing at an awful level.
22 Feb 2026 20:05:52
I certainly think it has to do with the money they are paid.
22 Feb 2026 20:36:06
The ref bottled it by blowing for the FK. If he left it a few seconds, he could have had another look. In my opinion, Gabriel has sold it well, and the ref lapped it up. I don't want to see any Arsenal fan complain about them favouring City, as that would have changed the game. They've massively got away with one!
22 Feb 2026 20:23:49
Doesn't help when you that rat face rodent sayin no penalty no penalty then soon as it's given not given he laughs saying Gabriel has went down easy she's thrown himself down there! It's a fkn disgrace he's allowed commentate on these games! And yes I do think they can hear him in Stockley park!
He does it at Liverpool games all the ooooohhh he could be in trouble here! Card is given then he says I actually don't think it was that bad the fella is a prk!!
22 Feb 2026 21:08:15
Match fixing and bias cheating for financial gain. Sport is rife with it.
22 Feb 2026 22:53:17
Gabriel did the same thing and flopped to the ground at Newcastle as Woltemade scored, and the ref did not buy his theatre correctly. Neither did the VAR. He has done it here, and the ref got conned, imo. I already knew the VAR would not intervene, and in a way, I agree. The ref has to have latitude to judge such incidents on their own.
As for our game, it is very simple. Had Macca blocked a goal-bound shot in our box in the very same way, would a pen have been given? If the answer is no, which it is, imo, then the goal should stand, as he had his back turned with his arm clearly against his body. Again, imo, it is that simple.
22 Feb 2026 23:20:03
The standard of refereeing has dropped dramatically now that they have the perceived safety net of VAR. Basically, match-day officials are covered (allegedly) by the great god technology. Plus, as has been said, 'you pay peanuts.
You get monkeys'. There's chat about a 15-year-old being offered 36k a week - which would, I'm guessing, be a fair bit more than PL match-day officials earn over the course of a season.
23 Feb 2026 01:34:37
The ref in the NLD today was pathetic. Pretty much every time Arsenal fell over in a position of consequence, he gave them a free kick. He then balanced it out by not giving them free kicks when the free kick would be inconsequential. At one point, Trossard actually jumped backwards into the Spurs player, then threw himself forwards and got a free kick.
Saka spent the entire game on the floor, getting free kick after free kick under minimal contact. It just ruins the game as a spectacle, and is infuriating to watch.
23 Feb 2026 11:07:18
@Varry, and yet this same Arsenal were the ones whining to the PL last season about Saka being over-fouled and how the refs have been screwing them with red cards. Notice they are not complaining this season. I wonder what changed.
23 Feb 2026 14:02:04
Oil, the difference with Maccas is that if a goal is directly scored from a hand it will automatically be ruled out. It's a stupid rule, as the same doesn't apply for a defender, but unfortunately it exists.