Mark Clattenburg says he felt ‘like a million dollars’ after he made one decision that enraged Arsenal fans

Add as preferred source on Google

Mark Clattenburg has officiated many Arsenal games in the past.

The 50-year-old is widely regarded as one of the best referees this country has ever produced, and he has been involved in some high-profile games over the years.

Now retired, Mark Clattenburg has been speaking about some of the experiences he has had on the pitch over the years, and he has a few great stories in his locker.

The Englishman has now given an insight into something that happened during a game between Arsenal and Manchester City that angered Gunners fans.

Mark Clattenburg says one of his best decisions came during an Arsenal game

Arsenal and Manchester City had some bad blood in the late 2000s.

Arsene Wenger was very critical of the way the Sky Blues spent money, and what made it worse was seeing City lure some of his players away.

Emmanuel Adebayor was one player who left Arsenal for Manchester City. The Gunners received £25 million for the striker in 2009.

Then, in September, the former Togo international scored against the Gunners and ran the length of the pitch to celebrate his goal in front of the away end, where Arsenal fans were visibly enraged.

Just before he scored, there was a foul from Gael Clichy on Shaun Wright-Phillips. Instead of blowing his whistle, Clattenburg correctly played advantage, and that helped City score.

Speaking about that decision, Clattenburg has claimed that he ‘felt like a million dollars’ because his call was absolutely the right one.

He said on the Under the Cosh podcast: “People say, like, as a ref, what’s the best feeling? When you play an advantage and they score. 

“I remember the famous goal at Adebayor, Man City vs Arsenal, when he ran the full length. If you go back to that goal, it was a foul, the assistant flags for a foul, and it was on the wing. And I just said, play on, and he crosses it, bang, straight on to Adebayor’s head. Yeah, he scored the header.

“But if I hadn’t played the advantage, Adebayor wouldn’t have scored. And the feeling inside you, you feel like a million dollars. Because you’re thinking, I’ve done something positive.

“Everybody thinks you’ve done things negatively, but it’s actually a positive impact on the game.”

Emmanuel Adebayor should’ve been sent off before he scored against Arsenal

Adebayor and Arsenal fans did not like each other at that point.

The striker’s exit from the Emirates was not amicable by any means, and he was playing to prove a point when he faced the Gunners for the first time.

In the second half, Adebayor appeared to stamp on Robin van Persie’s face, but Clattenburg missed the incident, and he stayed on the pitch.

However, after the game, the FA banned Adebayor for three games for what he did, and his provocative celebration further earned him a £25,000 fine (Guardian).

It has been a long time since that happened, but it’s safe to say that Arsenal fans still have no love for Adebayor for his actions back then.