Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Bournemouth was a dominant one, but they did have to deal with controversial refereeing decisions over the 90 minutes.
Bukayo Saka fell victim to a reckless early challenge from Ryan Christie, but he had the last laugh after he converted a penalty after Kai Havertz was fouled on the stroke of half time.
Leandro Trossard doubled the lead in the second half, but Bournemouth may have found a route back into the game after Antoine Semenyo found the back of the net, but the goal was ruled out.
Declan Rice added a third in the dying stages after an excellent assist from Gabriel Jesus, and whilst it was ultimately comfortable in the end for Arsenal, the noise around the decisions in the game is unlikely to die down quickly.
Ian Wright claims Arsenal were lucky with referee decisions in Bournemouth win
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has now given his verdict on two of the key decisions from referee David Coote and the VAR team, and admitted that his former side were lucky to receive the penalty, and to have the Bournemouth goal disallowed.
“Didn’t think it was a penalty. Bournemouth’s goal should have stood. Job done three points,” he posted on X after the game.
Ian Wright fails to take Arsenal’s side in refereeing controversy
Arsenal fans may be disappointed to see Wright stand on the other side of the fence when it comes to the refereeing decisions in their games.
Kai Havertz has explained why the goalkeeper making contact with his leg meant the penalty was rightly awarded, and Wright has also failed to mention the lack of card for Christie’s reckless challenge, which his former teammate Martin Keown slammed.
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Arsenal were perhaps lucky that the Bournemouth goal was ruled out, given how soft Solanke’s contact on Raya was, but they recorded a richly deserved victory, which was unlikely to change even if the decisions went differently given their dominance.
The win meant Arsenal are still within a shot of the Premier League title, but they will have to hope Manchester City drop points in at least one game even if the Gunners win both of their remaining games against Manchester United and Everton.
