#7 Controversial decisions
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(a) Chelsea’s first goal against Arsenal came under controversial circumstances as Marcos Alonso appeared to catch Hector Bellerin in the face. Replays show the Gunners right back being fouled in the box as the Blues defender rose to head the ball into the net.
(b) Sebastian Larsson was already on a yellow for a clumsy challenge on Zaha before he made two more lame attempts to catch the same player late on. He had no intention of getting the ball and there have been instances of players being sent off for similar offences. Given that Sunderland had only scored one goal at this point and Larsson did have a hand in creating one later, did the referee err? We’ll never know.
(c) Victor Valdes maybe staring at a retrospective ban for his stupidly unprofessional behaviour in the box. The Boro keeper got a hold of Dele Alli as the latter was trying to break free from Fabio’s clasp before giving him a nudge in the head and a poke in his face. The Englishman however, refrained from reacting violently to the offence.
(d) Raheem Sterling was booked for diving which we believe is quite harsh, considering Fabianski did catch his foot late on. Another one of referee Mike Dean’s errant calls – nothing new eh?
(e) It is a wonder that Juan Mata escaped a sending off for his late lunge on Jamie Vardy less than half an hour after kick-off. The tackle was studs-up and crucially when the scoreboard was still goalless. Mata grabbed his reprieve and scored United’s third goal of the evening in the second half. Jose Mourinho, who spent the best part of the press conferences at the start of the season complaining about the decisions that went against him and his team, might not have much to say about this.
