Somehow, Arsenal turned what looked to be a routine win into an incredibly tense affair against Leicester City on Saturday afternoon.
Arsenal waited until the 96th minute to find their winner at the Emirates Stadium having already surrendered a 2-0 lead.
Mikel Arteta’s side are famous for their defensive record, but those resolute characteristics went missing for James Justin’s two strikes in the second half.
Some Arsenal fans blamed Thomas Partey for his poor performance, arguing that he gifted Leicester both their goals.
But either way, when the game was level at 2-2, Arsenal could have actually been on their way to defeat rather than a comeback.
Sam Barrott, who was refereeing the game, chose not to award Riccardo Calafiori a second yellow card for a fairly blatant foul on Facundo Buonanotte who was running with momentum.
Riccardo Calafiori deserved to be sent off before Arsenal’s late winner
Perhaps Barrott wanted to avoid giving Arsenal another red card after recent events, but it did seem like the correct call was to dismiss Calafiori, who was defending with a little too much heart.
All of Gary Lineker, Micah Richards and Theo Walcott had their say on the matter over on the BBC’s Match of the Day, agreeing that Calafiori deserved to be sent off.
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Lineker initially said: “Steve Cooper was not happy, he thought Calafiori should have had another yellow card – I find it difficult to disagree with him.”
Richards replied: “Yeah, well I thought last week with Trossard, I didn’t think it was a yellow card for kicking the ball away.
“Today, with Calafiori I think that’s a second yellow card, I think he was lucky to stay on the pitch. Theo?”
Walcott: “I’ve got to agree with you, I think he’s very lucky, very cynical in the end.”
Lineker: “It was 2-2 at the time, as well.”
Walcott: “Quite sour about that one, aren’t you Gary?”
Lineker (jovially): “Well I think obviously Leicester would have won 3-2 otherwise.”
Steve Cooper says Calafiori decision was ‘beyond belief’
Leicester manager Steve Cooper was in very little doubt that Calafiori deserved to be sent off as well when speaking after the game.
Cooper also had a complaint about a foul on Jamie Vardy for Arsenal’s first goal, coming away from N5 feeling rather aggrieved.
“It’s a clear foul on Jamie Vardy for the first goal and the left-back has to get sent off for a second yellow.
“There’s so much more we could say. The whole game knows, but I’m not going down that road today. We were very disappointed with a foul not being given on Vards for the first goal.
“And although we don’t come into games trying to get players sent off, why he hasn’t sent off Calafiori is a little bit beyond belief.
“Because of the spell we’re in and the spell that I’m in personally, I’m trying to not let referees’ decisions be the headline.
“I’m trying to take responsibility for a team that needs to get better results. But we feel those were two poor decisions.”
Of course, whether Arsenal were the beneficiary of a few questionable decisions or not, it’s impossible to argue that Arteta’s side didn’t deserve to win.
Arsenal dominated Leicester in terms of their xG (4.37 – 0.27) and perhaps should have finished the game off in the first half such was their superiority.
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