Ruud Gullit and Ian Wright were unhappy at Robert Sanchez not being punished for taking out Gabriel Jesus during Arsenal’s 2-2 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Both felt that Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty in the second half when Robert Sanchez came off his line to clear a cross, only to take out everyone in front of him.
Gabriel Jesus was flat on the floor because of the Chelsea number one’s mistimed punch, with Ian Wright adding that he got ‘nowhere near’ the ball and how he ‘hasn’t got a what is going on anymore’, as he told Premier League Productions (21/10/23 at 7:45 pm).
There was already a penalty awarded during the game when William Saliba was punished for a handball that allowed Cole Palmer to open the scoring in the first half.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side then doubled their lead through Mykhailo Mudryk’s fortunate lob, even though it was a cross, with Arsenal’s new number one, David Raya, not covering himself in glory – Raya was slammed by Gary Neville.
Butt that’s when the comeback started from the away side, with Robert Sanchez’s miss-timed pass falling into the path of Declan Rice, who duly obliged, before Bukayo Saka’s wicked cross was met with Leandro Trossard to equalise.
All in all, it was a typical cagey, controversial and all-action London derby, with one talking point leaving Ian Wright and Ruud Gullit confused.
Should Arsenal have had a penalty?
“For me, this is a penalty,” said Gullit. “I can’t understand. VAR is above this studio. This is a foul. Nowhere near. This is a penalty. If you do that as an (outfield) player, it’s unbelievable. He (Jesus) can get hurt like that. I don’t understand why it’s not a penalty. You come too late and you can hurt somebody.”
Wright added: “Nowhere near. He has missed the whole ball – Jesus is in and amongst the bodies, people will say ‘oh, well Jesus was nowhere near the ball’.
“But, at the same time, the goalkeeper has (missed the ball). It’s a foul. I haven’t got a clue what is going on anymore.”
Arsenal still unbeaten
Mikel Arteta will have to put his hands up and say that his team simply weren’t at it in the first half and deserved to be behind, even if there was annoyance with how the penalty was awarded.
But if you want to be champions, then it’s all about how you react to difficult moments, as the title hopefuls certainly did at Stamford Bridge.
Not only did they pick up a point on the road when they didn’t play well, but they showed another sign that they can secure the Premier League title this season.
All in all, if you had handed this type of start to Arsenal at the start of the season, not forgetting that they also beat Manchester City before the international break, then surely their fans would have bitten your hand off for it.
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