Arsenal conspiracy theorists are as bad as moon landing deniers… the ball CLEARLY hit Havertz’s arm
BAD news for all the conspiracy theorists out there.
Lee Harvey Oswald did kill JFK.
The moon landings were not faked.
And Arsenal’s late ‘winner’ against Aston Villa on Saturday was rightly chalked off.
More than 48 hours after it was made abundantly clear to anyone with a working set of eyes that Kai Havertz’s forearm had diverted Mikel Merino’s bouncing strike past Emi Martinez, there were still Arsenal fans swearing that black was white.
That’s what happens when you live in an echo chamber — your critical faculties go missing.
Rather than questioning how the Gunners threw away a two-goal lead in the space of eight minutes, it had to be about bias, cheating, robbery.
To be fair, without VAR, Arsenal might now be top of the table, rather than six points adrift of Liverpool, who also have a game in hand.
Saturday was the third time this season that the Gunners have had a ‘winning goal’ disallowed after the intervention of Stockley Park.
Yet Havertz was clearly offside when he netted against Chelsea.
Gabriel Martinelli went too early before supplying Bukayo Saka in the last few minutes at Fulham.
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And on Saturday, the verdict from the video booth was equally clear-cut. Not for everyone, though. The ball “hit his abdomen”. It was “nowhere near his arm”. And best of all, “What else could he do?”
Some, it would seem, have still not recognised that ANY attacking handball that leads directly to the ball going into the net means it is automatically wiped out.
Arsenal supporters are not alone in concocting a story that fits their ‘Us against the world’ narrative.
Indeed, you get the same moans from an awful lot of fans of an awful lot of clubs. Last year, in particular, it was Nottingham Forest.
The Gunners, also, have been on the wrong end of some contentious calls over the past two campaigns.
There were a myriad of reasons to rule out Newcastle’s winner at St James’ Park last term, while Bruno Guimaraes was more than lucky to stay on the pitch.
The second yellow cards for Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard kicking the ball away against Brighton and Manchester City respectively have not been universally followed by all refs.
And the Brighton penalty award at the Amex earlier this month was odd.
But, equally, Havertz should have been dismissed in that tempestuous Tyneside clash, Martin Odegaard’s handball in his own box at Liverpool last term was beyond blatant, while Arsenal’s equaliser against Tottenham last week came from a corner that clearly should have been a goal-kick.
Arsenal ratings vs Aston Villa
Arsenal's title hopes took a huge hit as they threw away a two-goal lead against Aston Villa
Leandro Trossard turned provider for the Gunners to set up both goals as it looked like they would cruise to three points.
But defensive lapses from two stars cost Arteta’s side dearly.
Here is how SunSport’s Jordan Davies rated the players…
DAVID RAYA – 6/10
Let down by those in front of him for both goals, a duo of close range efforts he had no chance with.
MYLES LEWIS-SKELLY – 8
With performances like this, he is suddenly the first name on the team sheet for Arteta. So calm and composed for someone so young, and his strength against bigger opposition is scary at times.
GABRIEL – 7
Made a crucial tackle one-on-one with Watkins and another block from a speedy counter
JURRIEN TIMBER – 7
Alert to foil counters against the pace of Watkins and coped well in general. It is not his fault that he doesn’t have the defensive presence of Saliba.
THOMAS PARTEY – 6
A great stint at right back but one lapse in concentration cost Arsenal the lead, losing track of Watkins in the box before he volleyed in.
MIKEL MERINO – 6
A workman-like performance – won his duels and worked his socks off, but the small details were missing, shanking a good chance well wide in the first half.
He then lost his marker to allow Tielemans to head in and make it 2-1. Could have won it at the end with a scuffed effort in off Havertz that VAR chalked off and smacked the post too.
DECLAN RICE – 7
Integral to everything good about Arsenal and came close with a long-range punt in the second half.
MARTIN ODEGAARD – 6
A solid display but he is really missing his partner in crime in Saka. He created as much as he could but sometimes needs to be more selfish to drag his team over the line.
LEANDRO TROSSARD – 8
Deflected effort was comfortable for Martinez but his superb cross made life much harder for the Villa keeper to tee up Martinelli for the opener before blazing over himself.
The Belgian racked up his fifth Prem assist of the season in the second half for Havertz.
GABRIEL MARTINELLI – 8
Threatened at the far post early on, but got his rewards from the same position in the 35th minute with a stabbed effort ahead of Maatsen.
KAI HAVERTZ – 8
Again, lack of decent service left him living off scraps, but when he got a scrap he fired an effort straight at Martinez from close range.
The German more than made up for it after the break with a clinical finish, even if Martinez should have done better. That will do wonders for his confidence.
SUBS:
RAHEEM STERLING (MARTINELLI, 82) – 6
A few darting runs, but added virtually nothing, other than a needless yellow card. A cameo that screamed “lacking confidence”.
Seeking to pin the blame on outside factors, rather than the real ones, is creating an excuse culture.
Interestingly, Mikel Arteta chose not to go down the rabbit hole.
Instead, the Arsenal manager criticised his side’s defending and made clear to the Emirates board that they have to bring in some proper recruits now if they want to keep the season alive.
Realistically, Arsenal’s best chance of silverware is by doing what Jurgen Klopp did in 2019 — lifting the Champions League.
Arsenal can change three of their European squad for the knockout phase, including stars who have already played for another side in the competition — like Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres, Jonathan David of Lille or Juventus ace Dusan Vlahovic.
They might also want to get a proper centre-back in to cover for William Saliba as Riccardo Calafiori looks to be made of tissue paper.
Sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate. This is one of those times for Arsenal. And a time for the supporters to stop trying to see things that simply are not there.
By the way, 9/11 was not an inside job. And as for Roswell and Area 51 . . .