Why Arsenal should be furious about 69th minute incident involving Antony last night

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Arsenal fans who watched Thursday night’s clash between Brighton and Manchester United may have been asking questions in the 69th minute.

Antony and Lewis Dunk clashed during that particular stage of the game, with Andre Marriner’s decision surely angering a number of Gunners supporters.

What’s the story?

Well, Antony committed one bookable offence when he crashed into Alexis Mac Allister with a heavy tackle.

The Brazil international then carried out another bookable offence – arguably two more – when he then screamed at the linesman, before slamming into Lewis Dunk as he truly lost his head.

Eventually, Antony escaped with just a yellow card, with Dunk also receiving a booking, meaning the Manchester United No.21 was not punished for his strong challenge on Mac Allister nor his treatment of the linesman.

So, where do Arsenal come into this?

Well, some fans may recall Gabriel Martinelli receiving two yellow cards in one sequence from Michael Oliver during a 1-0 win over Wolves back in February 2022.

As you can see below, the Brazilian first attempted to stop Daniel Podence from taking a throw-in, before barging Chiquinho to the floor as Wolves counter attacked.

Bizarrely, Oliver handed out two yellow cards on the spot before brandishing a red – something we have rarely seen in the Premier League before, if ever.

In truth, Antony’s offences were far more severe than anything Martinelli did against Wolves that night, and Arsenal fans should be asking questions as to why their side is seemingly treated differently by officials.

Arsenal have more things to question

This is not the only time Arsenal have appeared to experience differing treatment from officials.

So far this season, the Gunners have been charged by the FA on numerous occasions for crowding the referee, something we see most sides do on a weekly basis.

Liverpool were also recently charged for doing the same in their 4-1 defeat to Manchester City at the start of April, but before that, Arsenal landed two charges for something players have been doing for years now.

It does seem as if the north Londoners receive some harsh treatment at times – to say the least.