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10th Dec 2016

People think Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka should have seen red for this elbow

Differences of opinion.

Tom Victor

Just as Arsenal fans become satisfied with the state of things, someone comes along and ruins it for them.

And that someone often seems to be Stoke City. But there were signs today that the tide may be turning.

Sure, we’re not in the Pulis days, which brought that Ryan Shawcross foul on Aaron Ramsey and – somehow – Seyi Olofinjana scoring a crucial Premier League goal.

Fresh from a 5-1 win at West Ham, and with a chance to temporarily go top of the league with Chelsea playing on Sunday, the Gunners welcomed Stoke to the Emirates Stadium.

But it took just half an hour for the visitors to take the lead, with Charlie Adam converting from the penalty spot, and many considered the hosts lucky to still have 11 players on the pitch.

While we can’t show you the video footage, these stills demonstrate the offence from Granit Xhaka which saw referee Lee Mason point to the spot – but which did not result in a card for the Swiss international.

xhaka

With Theo Walcott drawing Arsenal level before half-time, and Mesut Özil putting the home side ahead after the break, talk soon turned to whether Xhaka should have been punished more severely.

You’ll either be sure it’s a red card offence, certain it’s not, or somewhere in the middle. Pretty unhelpful, huh?

As commentators would say, it’s ‘one of those’.

https://twitter.com/RainManHD/status/807615229685338113

https://twitter.com/nankpete/status/807614252118904833

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