Man City ‘right to be furious’ as ex-PL referee drops verdict on disallowing Arsenal goal – ‘the issue is’
Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has explained why he thinks one of Arsenal’s goals against Manchester City should have been disallowed.
Sunday’s match at the Etihad was dramatic as Man City and Arsenal played out an entertaining 2-2 draw.
Pep Guardiola‘s side made a bright start to the match and in-form striker Erling Haaland fired the hosts in front inside the opening ten minutes.
Rodri was forced off injured after 21 minutes and Arsenal finished the half strongly as they turned the game around. Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes got on the scoresheet before Leandro Trossard was sent off for two bookings in stoppage time.
10-man Arsenal defended valiantly as they frustrated Man City for most of the second half, but John Stones netted a last-gasp equaliser to earn Guardiola’s team a point.
Guardiola and several Man City players were furious about Calafiori’s goal as referee Michael Oliver let Arsenal play an early free-kick after speaking to Kyle Walker and Bukayo Ska and this left the right-back out of position for the attack which resulted in Calafiori scoring from range.
READ: Man City: Expert gives grim ACL verdict as Pep waits on Rodri injury news after Arsenal draw
Speaking post-match, Walker offered his stance on the Calafiori goal, insisting he should have been given the opportunity to “get back in position”.
“I’m not ever going to come on national TV, national radio and start slagging people off because there’s enough of that going on around in the world,” Walker said.
“What I’m saying is I’ve not gone over to the referee. Me and Bukayo (Saka) have not gone over to the referee – he’s called us over.
“So if I’m being called over to the referee, he then should wait and allow me to get back in position before the ball is then gone over my head.”
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He added: “So if I go over to the referee by my own accord and I’m out of position, it’s my fault. But I’m in position, he’s called the two captains obviously to calm the players down.
“I’m walking back saying, ‘Lads, concentrate, nothing stupid, make sure we get through this’. The ball is then going over my head.
“Me and Mike have a very good relationship and I think he has a very hard job, especially at the top level. So that’s not me being critical of him. I know he has a hard enough job, he’s got 22 angry players screaming at him continuously.
“If he calls me over, if I go over of my own accord, fair enough. But for him to call both captains over and then not let me get back in position…
“If I was a goalkeeper, does he let me get back in my net? Of course. I’m a defender, I’m the first line of defence he should let me get back in and be set and then blow the whistle.”
Former Premier League referee Halsey has explained why he agrees with Walker as Man City are ‘right to be furious’.
In his column for The Sun, Halsey wrote: ‘Kyle Walker had every right to feel aggrieved over Riccardo Calafiori’s 22nd-minute goal.
‘Ref Michael Oliver called the City captain over for a chat after the Gunners had been awarded a free-kick, which is fine.
‘But the issue is he allowed Thomas Partey to take the set-piece quickly and, with Walker out of position, Arsenal ended up scoring.
‘Walker was rightly furious. When a referee calls a player over, he must allow him to get back into position.
‘Oliver should have restarted the game once Walker had returned to his right-back spot.
‘The goal came because Walker was out of position and Gabriel Martinelli exploited the space before teeing up Calafiori.’