Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink suggested to Premier League Productions that Kieran Tierney went down too easily to win a penalty during Arsenal’s 3-1 win against Chelsea on Boxing Day.
The former Chelsea striker thinks it’s ‘ridiculous’ that a penalty was awarded because there wasn’t any contact from Reece James, as Arsenal’s left-back was ‘already going down’ before the opponent could bring his arm across to try and defend the situation.
Arsenal ended up converting the spot-kick and opening the scoring before going on to secure a much-needed three points after weeks and weeks of struggle.
But the first-half decision didn’t sit well with Haselbaink, who fumed at Tierney’s actions and how the penalty call was handled.
“I think it’s ridiculous to be giving these kind of penalties,” said Hasselbaink regarding the call involving Arsenal’s £25 million defender [Sky Sports]. “We are talking about VAR. You have the luxury to look at it. Go and look at it. And who is looking off the pitch?
“We all see that it’s a challenge but he doesn’t make any contact, James. Tierney is already going down before that arm is coming across, so it’s a nice Christmas present for Arsenal.”
Whilst Arsenal fans would perhaps agree that luck did fall their way yesterday, they will also think that they have needed that given how things have gone for them recently.
From Chelsea’s perspective, they will be kicking themselves that they have just been beaten by a team that has seemingly been knocked down by everyone of late.
But with serious pressure mounting on Mikel Arteta, his side have answered a number of critics, it’s just a case of adding consistency to that now.
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